A French passenger and an American passenger evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius have tested positive for hantavirus as international health authorities continue monitoring the outbreak linked to the vessel.
The two passengers were among dozens of people repatriated from the Dutch expedition cruise ship after the outbreak triggered a large international emergency response involving multiple countries.
According to French health authorities, the infected French passenger was transferred to a hospital in Paris, where her condition reportedly worsened overnight.
US authorities also confirmed that one American passenger tested mildly positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus, while another passenger began showing symptoms during a repatriation flight to the United States.
The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has already caused three deaths and prompted health monitoring operations across several countries.
The World Health Organization said the outbreak involves the Andes virus, a rare hantavirus strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission.
The MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia, Argentina in April for a polar expedition through Antarctica and isolated South Atlantic islands before cases of severe respiratory illness began emerging among passengers.
The ship was later diverted and eventually reached the Canary Islands, where a large evacuation and quarantine operation began under coordination by Spanish authorities, the WHO and international health agencies.
More than 100 passengers from over 20 countries have since been repatriated or placed under observation as governments continue contact tracing and quarantine procedures.
The WHO has assessed the risk to the global population as low but warned that passengers and crew aboard the ship remain under moderate risk because of close contact during the voyage.
Authorities in the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands and several other countries are continuing medical monitoring of passengers who travelled aboard the ship or had contact with infected individuals.
Health experts say hantavirus is normally transmitted through exposure to infected rodent waste, though the Andes strain identified in this outbreak is one of the few known forms capable of spreading between humans under certain conditions.
