Version of hantavirus behind deadly outbreak matches known strain, France says

France’s Pasteur Institute said it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship and found it matched viruses already known in South America, with no evidence so far of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.

“The analyzed virus corresponds to the viruses already known and monitored in South America,” Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said Friday on social media. 

“At this stage, no element suggests the emergence” of a form of the virus that could be more transmissible or more dangerous, Rist added. The Andes virus is the only form of hantavirus that can be transmitted from person to person. 

Pasteur said genomic analysis confirmed the virus found in the French passenger matched the virus detected in other cases aboard the ship and closely resembled known Andes virus samples circulating in South America. 

“This sequencing work allows us to better understand the virus and to ensure close health monitoring,” Rist said. The data would be shared with the international scientific community, she added.

Hantaviruses are a family of rare viruses usually passed to humans through contact with contaminated rodent waste or saliva, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. Cases can result in severe pulmonary and respiratory distress. 

Pasteur said the viruses detected in patients from the ship were identical to each other and about 97% similar to some Andes viruses circulating in South America, including those identified in rodents. Jean-Claude Manuguerra, who heads Pasteur’s Environment and Infectious Risk unit, said the remaining variation appeared to reflect natural viral variation and did not seem to affect the characteristics of the virus detected among travelers.

The French passenger tested positive after traveling aboard the MV Hondius and has been treated in Paris. French authorities previously said she was in serious condition.

The hantavirus outbreak on the ship has reached 10 cases, eight of which have been confirmed, according to the World Health Organization. Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America. The Dutch couple visited sites where the species of rat known to carry the Andes virus was present, the WHO previously said. 

Cruise ship passengers were carefully evacuated from the ship after it arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands and placed on repatriation flights to their home countries last week. That included 17 Americans and one British dual citizen, who arrived in the U.S. early on May 11. Those passengers were all being monitored at the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska as of Friday.