Spain tests suspected hantavirus case in Alicante as two Irish passengers 'safe and well'

"The woman was a passenger on the same flight as a patient who died in Johannesburg after travelling on the MV Hondius cruise ship and contracting the virus, Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla told reporters. Authorities have identified the Andes strain of hantavirus on the ship, a version that can spread from human to human in rare cases, typically only after close contact. The woman has "mild respiratory symptoms" and is being transferred to a hospital in the city of Alicante where she will be tested for the virus, with results expected 24 to 48 hours later, according to a statement on the regional health department's website."

"Padilla said the woman, a resident of Alicante in the Valencia region, was sitting two rows behind the cruise ship passenger, but the contact between them "was brief" since the passenger had only been "on board for a short time" during the flight. Padilla added that Valencia's regional health authorities were tracing the people the woman has been in contact with over the past few days."

"Meanwhile, another suspected case of hantavirus was identified in a British national on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha on Friday, as efforts continue to trace passengers of the luxury cruise. The British health security agency did not disclose further details of the new suspected case on the world's remotest inhabited island, home to only around 200 people, where the cruise ship made a stop on April 15. Three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - have died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius."

A woman with mild respiratory symptoms traveled on the same flight as a passenger who died in Johannesburg after contracting hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Authorities identified the Andes strain of hantavirus on the ship, a version that can spread from human to human in rare cases, usually after close contact. The woman, a resident of Alicante, is being transferred to a hospital in Alicante for testing, with results expected in 24 to 48 hours. She sat two rows behind the deceased passenger, and contact was described as brief because the passenger had been on board for a short time. Regional health authorities are tracing her contacts over the past few days. A separate suspected case was reported in a British national on Tristan da Cunha, where the cruise ship stopped on April 15.

Read at Irish Independent