French health authorities have identified a first hantsavirus case and around 20 people who came into contact with passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius, as European governments widened tracing operations linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has already killed three passengers and triggered a multinational containment effort, according to BFMTV.
The identified contacts were not onboard the Dutch flagged vessel itself but were seated near infected or potentially infected cruise passengers on commercial flights between Saint Helena, Johannesburg and Amsterdam, the report said. Most are believed to be French nationals and many have already entered self isolation.
The figure marks a sharp increase from earlier estimates after French authorities obtained airline passenger manifests, underscoring how the outbreak has expanded beyond the ship into a broader international tracing operation involving multiple transit routes and countries.
France on Monday also published a decree allowing authorities to impose up to 42 days of hospital isolation for suspected cases, replacing previous rules that allowed only three days in hospital before home isolation for the remainder of the monitoring period, BFMTV reported.
The tighter legal framework came as a French cruise passenger developed a mild fever on a return flight Sunday afternoon. Authorities said a positive PCR result would officially mark a confirmed case on French territory.
The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has become one of the largest international hantavirus tracing operations in recent years after passengers disembarked across several countries before the disease was identified. Six confirmed cases linked to the ship have now been verified by the World Health Organization, which warned additional infections could still emerge because the virus can incubate for up to six weeks.
The ship arrived Sunday off Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where passengers were evacuated under WHO coordinated health protocols before being repatriated to their home countries for quarantine and medical monitoring.
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