Hantavirus live updates: Patient in France presenting 'severe form' of virus

The French cruise ship passenger who tested positive for hantavirus “is presenting a severe form and is currently in intensive care in a serious condition,” French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said in French at a news conference on Tuesday.

She "has the most severe form of cardiopulmonary presentation, and she is receiving what is called, or rather what is the final stage of supportive care: extracorporeal circulation for artificial oxygenation," Risk said. "She has a lung-machine, a blood diversion, which we hope will allow her to get through this difficult period while her lung, which is being attacked by this virus and the damage to the vascular wall, recovers."

The other four French nationals who were taken off the ship were hospitalized for monitoring and they tested negative and "are doing well," she said.

Rist stressed that only people who were on the ship have tested positive.

Through contact tracing, Rist said “eight French nationals were identified on the flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg. A second flight between Johannesburg and Amsterdam was carrying French nationals with a lower level of risk, in so far as a patient was present but was rapidly disembarked, which limited the exposure of travelers.”

“In total, 22 contact cases have been identified in France,” she said. “They have all been contacted, tested, hospitalized or are in the process of being hospitalized and are subject to rigorous health monitoring.”

-ABC News’ Othon Leyva

The cruise ship passenger at an Atlanta hospital who reported mild symptoms has tested negative for hantavirus, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. This passenger’s partner is also being monitored at the Emory University facility, officials said.

Meanwhile, the 16 passengers who are being monitored in Nebraska do not have symptoms, including the person in the biocontainment unit who previously tested positive, HHS said.

-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud

Twelve staffers at a hospital in the Netherlands are under quarantine after treating a hantavirus patient, Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans told lawmakers.

“Strict procedures were followed there, but not the very strictest procedures that apply in the case of this hantavirus,” Hermans said.

“This concerns the taking of blood and the disposal of urine from the patient,” she said. "… The chance that staff were infected as a result is small, but because we know that we are dealing with a serious virus here, [the hospital officials] said we are erring on the side of caution. We know this is a drastic measure with a major impact, but we are taking it nonetheless.”

-ABC News’ Othon Leyva

Jake Rosmarin is among the passengers quarantining in Nebraska after disembarking the MV Hondius cruise ship.

"I was relieved to get off the ship and have a plan in place, and they were treating us really, really well here, so I can't ask for anything more than that," Rosmarin told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.

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Hantavirus cruise ship passenger speaks out from quarantineJake Rosmarin speaks with “GMA” from Omaha, Nebraska, where he and other American passengers are quarantining after disembarking the MV Hondius cruise ship.

ABCNews.com

Rosmarin said he is not experiencing any symptoms and plans on remaining in quarantine for the next 42 days.

"I think that is the best decision that's for me and for my family, and I know that here, I'm in the best care possible," Rosmarin said, adding that his room in the quarantine unit has air conditioning, an exercise bike and he is receiving at least three meals a day. "I can't ask for any more than that."

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