Spain tests suspected hantavirus case in Alicante

"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. Four others confirmed to be infected, two Britons, a Dutch and a Swiss national, are being treated in hospitals in the Netherlands, South Af"

A woman in Alicante 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 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 from the past few days. A separate suspected case was reported in a British national on Tristan da Cunha after a cruise stop on April 15, as additional passenger tracing continues.

Read at Irish Independent