French woman evacuated from cruise ship diagnosed with hantavirus after initial misdiagnosis as anxiety

A French woman evacuated from the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius tested positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus and is now in critical condition at a Paris hospital. Her symptoms were initially dismissed by European health officials as stress or anxiety when she first reported flu-like illness. The outbreak has affected the ship with 8 confirmed infections and 3 deaths—a Dutch couple and a German national. The infection is believed to have originated during an Argentina birdwatching excursion. While hantavirus is typically spread by wild rodents, the Andes strain is the only variant capable of person-to-person transmission. Nearly 120 passengers and crew from 23 countries were evacuated from the ship in Tenerife, Spain, in a complex international operation involving military aircraft and quarantine protocols. Evacuees are isolating for 45 days across multiple countries. Health authorities emphasized the overall public risk remains low.