An American and a French national who have returned to their home countries, having left a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus have tested positive, authorities said.
The US health department said a second American national on the repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution”.
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman was isolating in Paris and her health was deteriorating, with 22 contact cases traced.
More than 90 passengers of the MV Hondius ship, currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, are being repatriated.
Three passengers – a Dutch couple and a German woman – have died after travelling on the vessel. Two of them are confirmed to have had the virus.
Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain – which the World Health Organization (WHO) believes was contracted by some of the Dutch ship’s passengers while in South America – is possible.
Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.
Officials said the risk of a major outbreak is very low.