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Hantavirus live updates: Patient in France presenting 'severe form' of virus
The French patient is "in intensive care in a serious condition."
The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has risen to 11, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus. Passengers disembarked the cruise ship in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, to be transferred to charter flights back to their home countries. On Monday, 16 American cruise ship passengers arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center; 15 are in the quarantine unit and one person who tested positive is in the biocontainment unit, officials said. Two other American cruise ship passengers were flown to Atlanta for "further assessment and care," officials said.
Key Headlines
- American quarantining in Nebraska shares video tour of his room
- Passengers in Nebraska undergoing in-depth interviews, symptom monitoring
- 2 people being monitored in Seattle area
- 25 crew, 2 medical staff remain on ship; no one has symptoms
- Positive patient in France presenting 'severe form,' in 'serious condition'
What is hantavirus and how does it spread?
Here's what you need to know about hantavirus including what it is, how it spreads, how it's treated and if there are any prevention methods:
What is hantavirus?
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death, according to the CDC.
How does hantavirus spread?
Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.
Read more about hantavirus here.
French passenger tests positive, minister says
One of the five French passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus, according to French Health Minister Stephanie Rist, who spoke to French public radio on Monday morning.
The passenger showed symptoms on the plane to France, and their condition worsened overnight, Rist said. They are in a specialist infectious diseases hospital, she said.
Additionally, France has identified 22 "contact cases" -- people who may have come into contact with those infected with hantavirus, she said. These people were on two flights where someone with hantavirus was also on board and have been isolating, according to Rist.
-ABC News' Victoria Beaule
Plane lands in Nebraska carrying Americans evacuated from cruise ship
A plane carrying American passengers who were evacuated on Sunday from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrived early on Monday in Nebraska.
Officials on Sunday said one of the passengers arriving at Omaha's Eppley Airfield via a Department of State airlift tested positive for the virus.
That passenger and another were on the plane were traveling in the aircraft's biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
American who tested positive will be transported to biocontainment unit
The American passenger who tested positive for hantavirus will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, according to Nebraska Medicine, which hosts the facility.
The individual does not have any symptoms and was separated from other passengers during the flight through biocontainment measures. They will be receiving a follow-up test, Nebraska Medicine said.
The remaining passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring.
1 American positive for hantavirus, another symptomatic, HHS says
The Department of Health and Human Services released a statement on Sunday saying one American has tested positive for hantavirus as the plane with 18 MV Hondius passengers is headed to the U.S.
Two of the passengers on the plane are traveling in the aircraft's biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," according to HHS.
The agency said that of the two, one passenger currently has mild symptoms and the other has tested PCR positive for the virus.
The plane is first going to the ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center before taking the passenger with mild symptoms to a second RESPTC, according to HHS.
"Upon arrival at each facility, each individual will undergo clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition," HHS said.