WHO head tells countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases
Health officials in Paris say French woman who contracted disease on MV Hondius is on ventilator in intensive care
TL;DR
- WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advised countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases.
- A French woman who contracted hantavirus onboard the MV Hondius is in intensive care on a ventilator.
- The WHO confirmed nine cases of the Andes variant of hantavirus, including the French patient and a US national.
- Spain confirmed one of its evacuated citizens tested positive for hantavirus, showing mild symptoms.
- The MV Hondius outbreak involved passengers traveling from Argentina to Cape Verde.
- Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can transmit person-to-person in rare cases.
- WHO recommends a 42-day quarantine and monitoring of high-risk contacts.
- 10 individuals from remote South Atlantic islands connected to the outbreak are being brought to the UK as a precaution.
- 20 British nationals, a German resident, and a Japanese passenger have been isolating in the UK and are preparing to leave.
- Spain facilitated the evacuation from Tenerife after Cape Verde refused docking permission.
- A Dutch hospital quarantined staff who handled a hantavirus patient's samples improperly.