{"id":446521,"date":"2026-05-13T10:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/446521\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T10:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:15:08","slug":"who-head-tells-countries-to-prepare-for-more-hantavirus-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/446521\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO head tells countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases"},"content":{"rendered":"

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has told countries to prepare for more hantavirus<\/a>cases as authorities in Paris said a French woman who contracted the virus onboard the MV Hondius<\/a> had the most severe form of the disease and had been put on a ventilator.<\/p>\n

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Spain for the \u201ccompassion and solidarity\u201d it had shown by taking in the stricken cruise ship and urged authorities to follow the WHO\u2019s advice and recommendations, which include a 42-day quarantine and constant monitoring of high-risk contacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, there is no sign 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\u2019s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks,\u201d he told a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, found itself at the centre of the outbreak after three passengers \u2013 a Dutch couple and a German national \u2013 died from the virus. Although usually spread by wild rodents, hantavirus can be transmitted person-to-person in rare cases of close contact.<\/p>\n

The WHO has so far confirmed nine cases of the Andes variant of the virus, among them a French woman and a US national who tested positive after being evacuated from the ship.<\/p>\n

Health officials in Paris said late on Tuesday that the French patient had been moved to intensive care with \u201cthe most severe form of cardiopulmonary presentation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dr Xavier Lescure told reporters the 65-year-old had pre-existing conditions, but gave no further details. \u201cShe is on an artificial lung and a blood bypass to allow her, we hope, to get through this stage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"ScreenScreen grab from PA Video of coaches arriving at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside, where passengers that have been repatriated to the UK from cruise ship MV Hondius, hit by hantavirus will be quarantined to protect against the spread of the illness should any of them be infected. Picture date: Sunday May 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

The Spanish health ministry said that one of the 14 Spaniards evacuated from the ship and put in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid had tested positive for hantavirus and was showing symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe patient who tested provisionally positive yesterday has been confirmed positive for hantavirus,\u201d it said in a statement. \u201cThe patient presented with a low-grade fever and mild respiratory symptoms yesterday, but is currently stable and shows no evident clinical deterioration.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Tedros, who was speaking alongside Spain\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, said more cases were likely to appear because of the degree of interaction between the passengers onboard the ship before the alarm was raised and the first case confirmed in a passenger on 2 May.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would expect more cases because, as you may remember, the index case \u2013 the first case in the ship \u2013 was on 6 April \u2026 [and] there was a lot of interaction, actually, with the passengers. And as you know, the incubation period is also six to eight weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo because of the interaction while they were still in the ship \u2013 especially before they started taking some infectious prevention measures \u2013 because of the interaction, we would expect more cases because of some of what happened during the travel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Tedros said individual countries were now responsible for their citizens after the evacuation, adding: \u201cI hope they will take care of the patients and the passengers, helping them and also protecting their citizens as well. That\u2019s what we expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK Health Security Agency said 10 people from remote South Atlantic islands connected to the cruise ship outbreak of hantavirus are to be brought to the UK in case they develop the illness.<\/p>\n

The group, from the UK overseas territories of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha islands, is being \u201cbrought to the UK to complete their self-isolation as a precautionary measure\u201d after being in contact with those affected, officials said.<\/p>\n

It is currently unclear whether the group includes British nationals.<\/p>\n

\"MedicsMedics escort a patients, evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship with suspected hantavirus infection, to an ambulance after being flown to Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Peter Dejong)<\/p>\n

It comes as 20 British nationals from the MV Hondius, together with a German who is a UK resident, and a Japanese passenger, who have been isolating at Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral, prepare to leave the facility.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank Spain and, especially, Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez, for the outstanding leadership and coordination,\u201d he said. \u201cI know this is a model \u2013 and I hope other countries also learn from this \u2013 not just the obligation part but the compassion and solidarity that Spain has shown.\u201d In a \u201cdivided and divisive world\u201d, he added, \u201ckindness and taking care of each other\u201d were important.<\/p>\n

Mr S\u00e1nchez echoed the sentiment, saying: \u201cThis world doesn\u2019t need more selfishness, nor more fear. What it needs is countries that show solidarity and want to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prime minister also offered his condolences once again to the family of a Guardia Civil officer who died of a heart attack while taking part in the evacuation on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Despite objections from the regional government of the Canary Islands, Spain\u2019s central government allowed the MV Hondius to anchor in port in Tenerife \u2013 and then, briefly, to dock \u2013 as it oversaw the evacuation operation.<\/p>\n

\"AA view of the m\/v Hondius Cruise ship anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Arilson Almeida)<\/p>\n

France\u2019s health minister, St\u00e9phanie Rist, said on Tuesday that while it wasn\u2019t currently clear whether the hantavirus strain involved in the outbreak may have mutated, officials were \u201crather reassured\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ms Rist told the National Assembly: \u201cThere are things \u2026 we do not know about this virus. We do not yet have the complete sequencing of the virus, which allows us to say with certainty today, even if we are rather reassured to date \u2026 that this virus has not yet mutated.\u201d The final planes carrying passengers and crew left the Canary Islands on Monday night and arrived in the Netherlands early on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Dutch authorities said all 26 passengers onboard the first evacuation flight had tested negative for the virus. Two more repatriation flights landed later in the Netherlands, carrying 28 more evacuees who will also undergo quarantine.<\/p>\n

A Dutch hospital quarantined a dozen members of staff on Tuesday after urine and blood from a patient with hantavirus were handled without using the necessary protocols. The 12 people would be quarantined for six weeks, a spokesperson for the Radboudumc hospital in Nijmegen said, adding that the infection risk was very low and patient care continued uninterrupted.<\/p>\n

The MV Hondius, which refuelled and restocked in Tenerife, is now sailing back to port in Rotterdam with a crew of 25, as well as a doctor and nurse.<\/p>\n

\n The Guardian with additional reporting from Reuters\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has told countries to prepare for more hantaviruscases as authorities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[188479,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-446521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-hantavirus","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}