French Hantavirus Patient in Critical Condition as Outbreak Grows to 11 Cases

Evacuation and Quarantine Measures

The evacuation of the MV Hondius was completed Monday night, with 87 passengers and 35 crew members escorted from the ship to shore in Tenerife by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks. All were placed into quarantine, the Dutch government confirmed.

WHO chief Tedros has advised that returning passengers should remain in quarantine, either at home or in designated facilities, for 42 days. Meanwhile, a hospital in the eastern Dutch city of Nijmegen reported that a passenger from one of the evacuation flights tested positive for hantavirus. The hospital stated that the "risk of infection is low" but placed a dozen employees in preventive quarantine as a precaution.

Blood and urine from the infected patient should have been handled "according to a stricter procedure," the hospital acknowledged.

Investigation into the Outbreak’s Origin

Argentina’s health ministry announced Tuesday that a team of scientific experts will be dispatched in the coming days to investigate the outbreak’s origin. The team will examine a landfill and other locations visited by passengers where rats known to carry hantavirus are found. However, local officials in the province where the cruise departed have disputed the theory that the outbreak originated there.

As the investigation unfolds, the MV Hondius is sailing back to the Netherlands, where it will undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection.

The French patient remains in critical condition, with doctors describing her treatment with an artificial lung as "the final stage of supportive care."