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Hantavirus live updates: Dutch hospital confirms new hantavirus case
"This is not the start of a COVID pandemic," a WHO official said.
Global health authorities are working to contain an outbreak of hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.
The total number of confirmed cases associated with the outbreak is increasing, health officials said. To date, three people who were aboard the ship are known to have died of the virus.
More than 100 passengers remain on the ship, and the World Health Organization is monitoring their health. Officials said that the "overall public health risk remains low" but that there may be some person-to-person spread.
Health officials in multiple states say they're monitoring some passengers who have returned to the U.S. after being aboard the ship for potential hantavirus infections.
Key Headlines
A timeline of the MV Hondius' voyage
The MV Hondius left on its voyage April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina.
On April 6, a 70-year-old Dutch passenger fell ill with fever, headache and diarrhea, according to the WHO. That passenger died on April 11.
The ship was between the British island territories of South Georgia and St. Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic, according to data from the ship tracking website MarineTraffic.
The ship sailed on for nearly two weeks, stopping near the island of Tristan da Cunha before reaching St. Helena, where the Dutch man's body was removed on April 24.
A total 29 passengers from 12 countries disembarked while the ship was in Saint Helena.
The Dutch victim's 69-year-old widow also disembarked and flew to South Africa, where she collapsed at an airport there. Two days later, she died from the disease, according to officials.
Another passenger aboard the ship, a German national, died on May 2nd, a day before the ship arrived in Cape Verde.
The next day, the WHO announced it was investigating a suspected hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius.
The ship is currently en route to the Canary Islands.
Texas health officials monitoring two cruise ship passengers for hantavirus
Texas' Health and Humans Services said Thursday that it is monitoring two residents who were previously passengers on the MV Hondius.
The department said the passengers left the ship and returned to the U.S. before the outbreak was identified.
"Public health workers in Texas have reached the two individuals, and they report they are not experiencing any symptoms and did not have any contact with a sick person while aboard the ship. They have agreed to monitor themselves for symptoms with daily temperature checks and contact public health officials at any sign of a possible illness," the agency said.
California, Arizona and Georgia health officials are also monitoring residents associated with the MV Hondius for potential hantavirus infections.
-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud
Suspected hantavirus case in France, officials say
The French Health Ministry issued a statement Thursday confirming that a French national has been tested for hantavirus after they displayed mild symptoms.
The unidentified person had been in contact with a confirmed hantavirus case who flew from Saint Helena to Johannesburg, according to the statement.
Eight other French nationals who were not passengers aboard the MV Hondius have been identified as contacts of a confirmed case after the infected person left the ship during a flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, according to the French Health ministry.
"Following the appearance of mild symptoms in one of these individuals, diagnostic testing is underway and isolation measures have been implemented," the statement said.
The news brings the number of hantavirus cases associated with the MV Hondius to six confirmed and six suspected.
-ABC News' Zoe Magee
Dutch hospital confirms patient has hantavirus
Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands said in a statement Thursday that it has admitted a patient with the hantavirus.
The patient arrived at the hospital Wednesday, according to LUMC.
"The department where the patient is admitted is prepared to care for patients with severe infectious diseases. During the treatment of a patient with a suspected serious contagious disease at LUMC, all precautionary measures are taken to prevent spread," the hospital said.
There are now six confirmed hantavirus cases and five suspected.
-ABC News' Zoe Magee