A French woman has tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the Hondius cruise ship, French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist told France Inter radio on Monday.
Rist said the woman’s condition had deteriorated overnight. Tests on the other four French evacuees have so far returned negative, although further testing is planned, she said. All five are being kept in isolation in specially equipped hospital rooms.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, two of the 17 US nationals repatriated on government-organized flights travelled in a dedicated biocontainment unit.
One passenger tested "mildly" positive for hantavirus, while another was showing mild symptoms, the agency said in a post on X, without providing further details.
The French nationals and US citizens were among the passengers on the Hondius cruise ship, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak and arrived in Tenerife on Sunday.
Under strict safety precautions, the first special evacuation flights departed the same day to repatriate passengers from 23 countries and limit the spread of the virus.
To date, a total of three passengers on the Hondius have died, all of whom were confirmed or suspected to be infected with the Andes virus subtype.
