US Repatriation Flight Passenger Tests Positive For Hantavirus Amid Cruise Ship Outbreak

One US citizen travelling on a government-chartered flight has tested positive for hantavirus, and another exhibits mild symptoms, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. Both individuals are being transported in “biocontainment units” as a precautionary measure.

Upon arrival in the US, all 17 American citizens on the flight will undergo further screening at a medical facility in Nebraska. These passengers are part of a larger group of over 90 individuals from the MV Hondius, currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, who are being repatriated to various nations.

Three passengers from the MV Hondius – a Dutch couple and a German woman – have died, with hantavirus confirmed in two of these cases. While hantaviruses are typically carried by rodents, human-to-human transmission of the Andes strain, believed to have been contracted by some passengers in South America, is possible. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, and respiratory distress.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended a 42-day isolation period for individuals disembarking the MV Hondius. However, Dr Jay Bhattacharya, acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), stated that the US would not adhere to these guidelines, citing the rarity of human-to-human transmission and distinguishing it from the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the US decision “may have risks.”

Seven other US passengers have already returned and are under monitoring in their home states. A British national residing in the US was also evacuated alongside the American passengers.

Meanwhile, a French woman who returned from the cruise has tested positive for the virus and is in isolation in Paris, with her health reportedly deteriorating. French authorities have identified 22 contact cases. A flight carrying 20 British nationals arrived in the UK on Sunday and were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral for a 72-hour isolation, with no symptoms reported. Two other British nationals with confirmed cases are receiving treatment in the Netherlands and South Africa.

In Spain, 14 Spanish nationals flown to Madrid face mandatory quarantine at a military hospital. Further evacuation flights are scheduled. A separate flight with 26 passengers and crew, including eight Dutch nationals, arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday. Additionally, six passengers are returning to Australia, and another 18 will fly to the Netherlands, with these flights also accommodating nationals from countries that did not arrange their own repatriation.