WHO head tells countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases | Hantavirus

The head of the World Health Organization has asked countries to prepare for more cases of hantavirus, as Paris authorities said a French woman who contracted the virus aboard the MV Hondius was suffering from the most severe form of the disease and had been put on a ventilator.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Spain for the “compassion and solidarity” it showed in welcoming the stricken cruise ship and urged authorities to follow WHO advice and recommendations, which include a 42-day quarantine and constant monitoring of high-risk contacts.

“At the moment there is no indication that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak, but of course the situation could change and, given the long incubation period of the virus, it is possible that we will see more cases in the coming weeks,” he told a news conference in Madrid on Tuesday.

The MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, found itself at the center of the outbreak after three passengers – a Dutch couple and a German national – died from the virus. Although it is usually transmitted by wild rodents, hantavirus can spread from person to person in rare cases of close contact.

The WHO has so far confirmed nine cases of the Andean variant of the virus, including a French woman and a US national who tested positive after being evacuated from the ship.

Health officials in Paris said Tuesday evening that the French patient had been transferred to intensive care with “the most serious form of cardiopulmonary presentation.”

Dr. Xavier Lescure told reporters that the 65-year-old suffered from pre-existing conditions, but gave no further details. “She is on an artificial lung and a blood bypass to hopefully get her through this stage,” he said.

Spain’s Health Ministry said one of 14 Spaniards evacuated from the ship and quarantined at a military hospital in Madrid had tested positive for hantavirus and was showing symptoms.

“The patient who tested provisionally positive yesterday has been confirmed positive for hantavirus,” the ministry said in a statement. “The patient presented with a mild fever and mild respiratory symptoms yesterday, but is currently stable with no obvious clinical deterioration.”

Tedros, who spoke alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, said more cases were likely due to the degree of interaction between passengers on board the ship before the alarm was raised and the first case in a passenger was confirmed on May 2.

“We would expect more cases because, as you may recall, the index case – the first case on board the ship – was on April 6… [and] there was actually a lot of interaction with the passengers. And as you know, the incubation period is also six to eight weeks.

“So because of the interaction while they were still on the ship — especially before they started taking infection prevention measures — because of the interaction, we would expect more cases because of some of what happened during the voyage.”

Tedros said each country was now responsible for its citizens after the evacuation, adding: “I hope they will take care of the patients and passengers, helping them and also protecting their citizens. This is what we expect.”

Britain’s Health Security Agency said 10 people from remote South Atlantic islands linked to the hantavirus outbreak on cruise ships were to be brought to the UK in case they developed the disease.

The group, from the British Overseas Territories of St Helena, Ascension and the Tristan da Cunha Islands, are being “brought to the UK to complete their self-isolation as a precautionary measure” after coming into contact with those affected, officials said.

It is not yet known whether this group includes British nationals.

It comes as 20 British nationals from the MV Hondius, as well as a German resident in the UK and a Japanese passenger, in isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, prepare to leave the facility.

The WHO chief also paid tribute to the Spanish government and people for responding to the plight of those on board the ship after Cape Verde authorities denied it permission to dock. More than 120 passengers and crew were evacuated from Tenerife in a carefully coordinated operation on Sunday and Monday.

“I would like to thank Spain and, in particular, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, for their exceptional leadership and coordination,” he said. “I know this is a model – and I hope other countries will also learn from it – not only in terms of obligation, but also in the compassion and solidarity that Spain has shown.” In a “divided and conflicted world,” he added, “kindness and caring for each other” is important.

Sánchez echoed this sentiment, saying: “This world does not need more selfishness, nor more fear. What it needs are countries that show solidarity and want to move forward.”

The Prime Minister also once again offered his condolences to the family of a Guardia Civil officer who died of a heart attack while participating in the evacuation on Sunday.

Despite objections from the Canary Islands regional government, Spain’s central government allowed the MV Hondius to anchor in Tenerife’s port – and then, briefly, to dock – while supervising the evacuation operation.

French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said Tuesday that while it was not yet clear whether the strain of hantavirus involved in the outbreak had mutated, officials were “rather reassured.”

Rist told the National Assembly: “There are things… that we do not know about this virus. We do not yet have the complete sequencing of the virus, which allows us to say today with certainty, even if we are rather reassured to date… that this virus has not yet mutated.”

The last planes carrying passengers and crew left the Canary Islands on Monday evening and arrived in the Netherlands early on Tuesday.

Dutch authorities said all 26 passengers on board the first evacuation flight tested negative for the virus. Two more repatriation flights landed later in the Netherlands, carrying 28 more evacuees who will also be quarantined.

A Dutch hospital quarantined a dozen staff members on Tuesday after a hantavirus patient’s urine and blood were handled without using necessary protocols. The 12 people will be quarantined for six weeks, a spokesperson for Nijmegen’s Radboudumc hospital said, adding that the risk of infection was very low and patient care continued without interruption.

The MV Hondius, which refueled and resupplied in Tenerife, is now returning to the port of Rotterdam with a crew of 25 as well as a doctor and a nurse.

Reuters contributed to this report