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Third Hantavirus PCR Is Negative for Woman Isolated in Alicante

Health officials will keep her in isolation under a new national protocol that requires retesting seven days after admission.

Overview

  • The 32-year-old patient remains asymptomatic after a third PCR for hantavirus came back negative, according to regional and national health authorities.
  • Under the Health Ministry’s updated protocol, she is now classified as a contact and will receive another PCR seven days after she was admitted.
  • Her sample was sent to Spain’s National Center for Microbiology at the Carlos III institute for confirmatory analysis.
  • Public-health teams contacted her through the European Alert System after she traveled on the same flight as a passenger who later died from a cruise ship–linked hantavirus infection, with officials noting she sat two rows behind.
  • She was moved by secure ambulance and is held in a negative-pressure room with a sealed capsule, a setup that pulls air inward so germs do not escape to hallways or other patient areas.