JUST IN: The EU rules out mutations in the hantavirus; the condition of the French patient worsens
In a major development, the following story has emerged from the international scene.
A passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship, the focus of the lethal hantavirus outbreak, who was hospitalized in France, has had to be assisted with an artificial lung, reported Dr. Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at the Bichat Hospital in Paris. The patient presented lung and heart deficiencies due to the contagion, which has forced healthcare workers to use a life support device that pumps blood through an artificial lung, oxygenating it and returning it to the body. This maneuver to relieve pressure on the organs was described by Lescure as “the final stage of palliative care.” To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies. Accept Manage my options The WHO has confirmed nine diagnoses and two suspected cases — one who died before being tested and another on Tristan da Cunha, a remote South Atlantic island where no testing was available. They are all passengers or members of the cruise ship crew. The last confirmed case was that of a Spanish passenger who tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the ship, and who has remained in quarantine in a military hospital in Madrid with symptoms, but stable, as reported on Tuesday by the Spanish Ministry of Health. The other 13 Spanish cruise passengers evacuated from the Hondius remain without symptoms and have tested negative in the PCR tests. Likewise, four Italians placed under observation after sharing a plane with one of the infected have tested negative for hantavirus, the Italian Ministry of Health stated this Wednesday. Ten Britons residing on the islands of Saint Helena and Ascension, in the Atlantic, who had contact with cruise passengers, will be transferred to the United Kingdom to complete the hantavirus quarantine, reported the country’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA). With a confinement of weeks ahead, some have decided to view the situation with optimism, such as content creator Jake Rosmarin, one of the 18 Americans who are under observation in health centers specialized in infectious diseases. To display this Instagram content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies. Accept Manage my options His room is more like a small hotel suite, equipped with a closet, smart TV, bathroom, small refrigerator, bed, chair and exercise bike, as seen in a video he shared on social networks. It has windows, but he keeps the blinds drawn to avoid prying eyes, he noted. “I think for now my plan is to take it day by day, and that’s the best I can do,” the 30-year-old said. Read alsoWhat is the hantavirus and how is it transmitted?: keys to the outbreak on a cruise ship that leaves at least three dead Without mutations or high risk, according to the ECDC The director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, insisted on his call for tranquility by stating that, “at the moment, there are no indications that we are witnessing the beginning of a major outbreak”, although he did not rule out that “we will see more cases in the coming weeks”, given the long incubation period of the hantavirus—up to 42 days. Another calm report came from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which assured this Wednesday that “there is no reason” to think that there is a mutation in the hantavirus that makes it more dangerous. “What we see from an epidemiological and macrobiological point of view suggests that it is acting the way it normally does,” Andreas Hoefer, an ECDC expert, explained at a press conference in Stockholm, who explained that the virus genome has been completely sequenced. In the same appearance, Ettore Severi, head of emergencies at the ECDC, reported that the current hypothesis is that the first case probably occurred during a trip through Argentina, weeks before boarding the Hondius, and that then that person infected the rest. “The information we have is that the transmission followed the pattern that there was close contact between those people,” he said. Along the same lines, the director of the ECDC, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, added that virus transmission “needs a prolonged exposure time or very intense contact.” To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies. Accept Manage my options An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site. Try again © France 24 Andrea Vicari, head of the Infectious Threat Management Unit of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), stressed to France 24 that the hantavirus is a well-known pathogen, of which up to “200 cases are reported each year.” “40% of infections are mild or moderate and 60% are serious cases with a significant proportion that can die.” Three of the ship’s nearly 150 passengers died in an outbreak that was confirmed in early May while the ship was in the Atlantic. This is the first case on board a cruise ship. Read also Why does the WHO rule out an epidemic after the hantavirus outbreak? Europe remains alert Although the hantavirus outbreak remains under control, Europe does not want to let its guard down. The French Minister of Health, Stéphanie Rist, stated in an appearance before the National Assembly that France, the United Kingdom and Spain are going to “transmit a message of caution” in the face of the hantavirus during a meeting they will hold with several European leaders this Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. (local time). Some 22 people in France, including children, who were in contact with the deceased Dutch passenger are hospitalized in different cities across the country, waiting to learn the results of their PCR tests this Wednesday. Rist defended this measure as a “precautionary” maneuver, while stressing that it is “key” to interrupt possible chains of transmission through strict quarantines. This call to cut off any escape route for the virus was also applied in the Netherlands, where 12 employees of a hospital where a Hondius passenger with hantavirus is admitted will have to quarantine for six weeks after improperly handling body fluids, as reported on Monday night by the Radboud University Medical Center in the eastern city of Nijmegen. The MV Hondius cruise ship, affected by the hantavirus, receives supplies at the port of Granadilla de Abona, on the island of Tenerife, in the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, on May 11, 2026. © JORGE GUERRERO / AFP Although the health center considers that “the risk of infection is low”, it required the dozen employees to undergo preventive quarantine as a “precautionary measure”, after considering that blood and urine of the patient should have been treated with “a more strict procedure. Meanwhile, the Hondius sails towards the Dutch port of Rotterdam, where it is expected to arrive between May 17 and 18, with 25 crew members, two health workers and the body of one of the deceased passengers on board. None of them have symptoms, Oceanwide Expeditions reported in a statement on Tuesday, explaining that the ship will undergo an exhaustive cleaning and disinfection process. The Netherlands-flagged MV Hondius is listed on the Oceanwide Expeditions website with a voyage scheduled for the end of May to the Arctic for a series of summer crossings. The company told the AP news agency on Wednesday that it expected “by the end of this week to have clarity on whether the ship will sail and what the sailing schedule will be.” Read alsoThe countries affected with hantavirus cases With AP, EFE and local media
The Bigger Picture:
This report highlights significant developments in the international landscape that could reshape diplomatic relations in the coming weeks.
This is part of a broader trend that has been reshaping the geopolitical landscape in recent months.
Stay tuned for more updates as this story continues to unfold.
Source: This article was originally published in another language by France 24 – Noticias y actualidad internacional en vivo and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.