'No evidence' of widespread hantavirus circulation in France, health minister says
France's health minister said on Tuesday that there was "no evidence" of widespread hantavirus circulation in France and that officials were "rather reassured" – although not completely certain – that the strain identified on the MV Hondius cruise ship had not mutated.
Issued on: 12/05/2026 - 20:02Modified: 12/05/2026 - 20:26
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French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said on Tuesday that there was "no evidence to suggest widespread circulation of the virus within the country", following the return of several passengers that were travelling on a cruise ship hit by an outbreak of the virus.
While 22 close contacts have been identified in France, "they have all been contacted, tested, hospitalised or are in the process of being hospitalised, and are being closely monitored by health authorities", Rist said.
The health minister also said that it wasn't certain whether the hantavirus strain involved in the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship may have mutated, although officials were "rather reassured".
"There are things ... we do not know about this virus," Rist told the National Assembly. "We do not yet have the complete sequencing of the virus which allows us to say with certainty today, even if we are rather reassured to date... that this virus has not yet mutated."
The World Health Organization has said there was no indication that there was anything unusual about the hantavirus strain on the ship beyond its location.
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The outbreak has been linked to the Andes strain of hantavirus, with officials consulting Argentina, where an outbreak involving the same strain ended in 2019.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that France had put in place "extremely rigorous protocols" based on expert advice and that the government had the situation "under control".
French woman battling 'severe' hantavirus
A French woman repatriated from the MV Hondius remains in intensive care on a ventilator battling a severe case of the rare disease, a doctor said.
The woman, one of five French passengers flown back from the MV Hondius and placed in isolation in Paris, started to feel very unwell on Sunday night and tested positive.
"The patient now has the most severe form of cardiopulmonary presentation," Dr Xavier Lescure told a press conference at the health ministry.
"She is on an artificial lung and a blood bypass to allow her, we hope, to get through this stage."
She was older than 65 and had pre-existing conditions, he added, without elaborating.
Read moreUS vs Europe: huge differences in protocol for passengers of hantavirus-hit ship
Three passengers from the Hondius – a Dutch couple and a German woman – have died, while others have fallen sick with the disease, which usually spreads among rodents.
The WHO has confirmed nine cases and urged isolation of suspected cases, adding that more are expected given passenger interactions before the virus was detected. However, it said there was no sign of a wider outbreak.
No vaccine or specific treatment exists for hantavirus.
But health officials have insisted that the risk for global public health is low and played down comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
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