French hantavirus patient is critically ill as outbreak grows to 11
NPR • • health
Key Points:
- A French woman infected with hantavirus on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung at Bichat Hospital in Paris, experiencing severe lung and heart complications.
- The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship has reached 11 reported cases, including three deaths, with the initial infections believed to have occurred in South America.
- Argentina is sending experts to investigate the origin of the outbreak, focusing on locations visited by a Dutch couple who died and may have been exposed to infected rodents.
- All passengers and many crew members have been evacuated and quarantined, with the ship now en route to the Netherlands for cleaning and disinfection; WHO advises a 42-day quarantine for returning passengers due to the virus's long incubation period.
- Twelve staff members at a Dutch hospital were placed in preventive quarantine after improperly handling bodily fluids from a hantavirus-positive patient evacuated from the cruise ship, though the risk of infection is considered low.