FRANCE PUT ON HANTAVIRUS ALERT AS 5 FRENCH NATIONALS RETURN FROM DEADLY CRUISE

Five French passengers are being repatriated today from the MV Hondius, the Dutch expedition ship where 3 people have already died from the Andes strain of hantavirus.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called an emergency meeting Sunday at Matignon with the health minister, interior minister, and foreign affairs minister to coordinate France’s response.

All 147 people still on board when the ship docked in Tenerife this morning have been classified as “high-risk contacts” by the WHO – meaning French authorities are preparing to monitor every one of the returning nationals closely. ⠀

There is no approved treatment for hantavirus. Hospital care is entirely supportive: oxygen, fluids, and in severe cases, a machine called ECMO that takes over lung function.

French hospitals have been put on alert to receive suspected cases in airborne isolation rooms with full PPE protocols. ⠀

What makes this outbreak unusual is the virus involved. The Andes strain, normally found in South America, is the only known hantavirus that can spread from person to person as opposed to just from rodents. ⠀

France actually has its own hantavirus cases every year, mostly in rural areas like the Ardennes and Alsace, but from a milder local strain.

The Andes virus is far more lethal – 38% of those who develop serious respiratory symptoms can die.

The WHO says the risk to the broader public remains low. But with French nationals just off a ship where the virus spread between passengers, this is exactly the kind of situation France’s healthcare system has been preparing for since Covid.

France’s National Reference Center for Hantaviruses is based at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, which handles all PCR confirmation for suspected cases in the country.

Any of the returning French passengers showing symptoms in the coming weeks would be fast-tracked through that lab.

Incubation for the Andes strain can run up to 42 days after exposure, so French health authorities will be watching these returnees well into June.

Would you feel comfortable traveling by cruise ship right now?