Lead
French health authorities have sought to reassure the public after a woman who travelled on the cruise ship MV Hondius developed a severe case of hantavirus, with officials stressing there is no evidence of widespread transmission within the country. President Emmanuel Macron said from Nairobi that the situation in France was "under control," while Health Minister Stéphanie Rist told the National Assembly that officials were "rather reassured" despite uncertainties about the virus.
Coverage comparison
Reports from Dawn, France 24 (English), and RFI (English) all emphasize the government's cautious but reassuring stance. France 24 highlighted Rist's press conference in Paris, where she was flanked by infectious disease specialists, and quoted Macron as saying that France has "one of the most stringent protocols," drawing on lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. RFI focused on the condition of the French patient, a woman over 65 who is in intensive care at Bichat Hospital, and noted that she was among five passengers repatriated on a special flight last weekend. Dawn reported Rist's remarks to the National Assembly, where she acknowledged that "there are things … we do not know about this virus," and noted that the health ministry did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Key claims
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said there was "no evidence to suggest widespread circulation of the virus within the country." She also said 22 close contacts have been identified in France, and that 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 it was not certain whether the hantavirus strain involved in the outbreak on the MV Hondius may have mutated, although officials were "rather reassured." She explained: "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 (WHO) has said there was no indication that there was anything unusual about the hantavirus strain on the ship beyond its location. 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, but that there was no sign of a wider outbreak.
Three passengers from the Hondius have died, while others have fallen sick with the disease. The French patient, a woman aged over 65, is being treated in intensive care at Bichat Hospital and remains in a "serious condition," Rist said. Infectious disease specialist Xavier Lescure described her condition as "the most severe form of cardiopulmonary presentation," and said she has an artificial lung and a blood bypass system to help her lungs recover.
The four other French citizens who were on board the Hondius are, for the moment, not infected and in good health, and under close medical supervision. The French government has taken strict measures, including isolating the five passengers at Bichat Hospital, and is following WHO recommendations "to a tee." No cases have been confirmed in people who were not aboard the cruise ship, according to a French press review reported by France 24.
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. Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents but can be transmitted between people in rare cases, according to the WHO. It usually begins with flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and fever, one to eight weeks after exposure.
In a related development, Italy's top infectious diseases hospital said it would examine biological samples from a man in quarantine who came into contact with a woman who died of hantavirus. The man, a 25-year-old from the southern Calabria region, was briefly on the same plane as the woman, who disembarked before the flight took off.