A Spanish passenger is sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish government officials before boarding a plane after disembarking from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Photo credit: AP)
An American passenger evacuated from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship has tested positive for the virus, US health officials confirmed on Sunday, with an update that he has not yet shown any symptoms.With the spread of this virus, many countries have started quarantining and monitoring the passengers returning by ship.The infected American, one of 17 US citizens evacuated from the ship, is showing no symptoms and will be transferred to a Nebraska biocontainment unit upon arrival in Omaha. Other passengers will also undergo assessment and monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit for precautionary purposes.The development came hours after French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that one in five French passengers developed symptoms during the flight and that flights to Paris had been reinstated. All five passengers were immediately placed in strict isolation testing.The MV Hondius—the hantavirus-hit cruise ship—docked off Spain’s Canary Islands, Canary Islands, on Sunday, after a deadly hantavirus outbreak linked to the ship killed three people and infected at least five more passengers. More than 140 passengers from more than 20 countries were present during the emergency evacuation.The World Health Organization reassured that the outbreak does not pose a major threat to the public.“This is not another Covid,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said. “The risk to the public is low. People should not panic.”Health experts say Hantavirus is spread primarily through contact with contaminated rodent feces and is not easily transmitted between humans. But in rare cases, the Andes strain found in this outbreak (a specific type of hantavirus found primarily in South America) can spread between people in rare cases. Further symptoms may appear anywhere between one and eight weeks after exposure.WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said countries receiving travelers have been advised to take active daily health surveillance and quarantine measures. Many countries have already imposed strict isolation protocols lasting up to six weeks