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A Spanish national in quarantine in a Madrid military hospital, who was among those evacuated from a cruise ship earlier this month, has tested positive for hantavirus, Spain’s Health Ministry said Monday.
It is the second positive case among the 14 Spanish nationals who were evacuated to the Spanish island of Tenerife from the luxury liner MV Hondius. The ship had been carrying about 150 passengers — including four Canadians — and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2.
After confirming the infection, the Spanish national was taken to an isolation unit at Gómez Ulla Hospital, the Health Ministry said on X. It added that the fact that the case was detected among those already in quarantine “does not modify the risk situation” for the overall population.
The symptoms of a hantavirus infection can appear anywhere from one to eight weeks after exposure, but the majority of cases tend to appear within four to six weeks.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed a positive case of hantavirus in one of the Canadians who was isolating in B.C. after leaving the ship. PHAC said a second person who travelled with the confirmed case tested negative for the virus.
Now that a Canadian cruise passenger has tested positive for hantavirus, The National’s Ian Hanomansing has infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch break down the risk of the disease spreading further.
In total, 36 Canadians have been impacted by this outbreak.
Aside from the four passengers who were recently evacuated from the cruise ship, another two Canadians — who had been on the ship but disembarked at an earlier location — are also isolating and monitoring for symptoms.
And earlier this month, federal health officials said another 26 Canadians, who were on the same planes as a confirmed hantavirus case and considered low risk, were being told to monitor for symptoms. No one has exhibited any symptoms.
Those low-risk contacts were connected to flights taken from St. Helena to Johannesburg and a second flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, according to a PHAC spokesperson.
The Andes hantavirus outbreak, which is primarily spread by rodents but can be transmitted between people in rare cases, was reported in early May aboard the cruise ship.
It has since infected 12 people, including the Spanish national identified Monday. Three people have died: a Dutch couple and a German national.
