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WHO Confirms Andes Hantavirus Cluster Linked to MV Hondius

Officials judge global risk low despite ongoing monitoring.

Overview

  • WHO, in a notice Wednesday, counted 11 cases tied to the ship, including three deaths, with eight confirmed as the Andes strain that can spread through close contact.
  • A French passenger evacuated to Paris is in critical care on an artificial-lung machine known as ECMO, according to her treating physician.
  • U.S. health officials are monitoring 41 exposed people and advising 42 days of isolation and symptom checks because incubation can extend up to six weeks.
  • European disease experts reported no sign of a viral mutation and said early infections likely began before embarkation, with genomes close to Argentine strains but the source still unclear.
  • French authorities confirmed a separate gastroenteritis outbreak on the cruise ship Ambition as norovirus and said it is not linked to the Hondius cases.