ALBAWABA- Italian health authorities are investigating suspected cases of hantavirus linked to an international outbreak connected to the Dutch-flagged expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, as European officials intensify monitoring efforts following multiple infections and deaths associated with the vessel.
Italy’s Health Ministry said biological samples from at least two individuals are undergoing laboratory analysis for possible hantavirus infection, although no confirmed positive cases had been officially recorded in the country as of Wednesday.
Among those being tested are an Argentine tourist hospitalised with pneumonia and a 25-year-old man from the southern Italian region of Calabria who reportedly had brief contact with a Dutch passenger later confirmed to have died from the virus.
Italian authorities have also activated surveillance measures for additional passengers and contacts who travelled on the same international flights as confirmed or suspected cases. Four individuals under observation, including contacts from a KLM flight, initially tested negative.
The suspected cases are linked to a broader international outbreak traced to the MV Hondius, which departed from Ushuaia in early April for an Atlantic expedition cruise. The ship later became the centre of a rare outbreak involving the Andes virus strain of hantavirus.
In France, health authorities imposed quarantine measures on around 1,700 people aboard a ship docked in Bordeaux after confirmed and suspected infections emerged among passengers. French officials have confirmed at least one positive case, while additional individuals remain under medical observation. Passengers from the cruise have since returned to more than 20 countries, prompting international health monitoring efforts.
Hantaviruses are primarily transmitted through contact with infected rodents or their waste. However, the Andes virus strain is considered unusual because it can spread between humans through close and prolonged contact, although such transmission remains limited.
Italian authorities said precautionary measures include quarantine protocols, active monitoring of exposed individuals, and laboratory testing at specialist facilities, including Spallanzani Infectious Diseases Hospital in Rome.
Hantavirus infections typically begin with flu-like symptoms appearing between one and eight weeks after exposure, including fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headaches, chills, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. In severe cases, particularly hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, patients may develop coughing and severe breathing difficulties caused by fluid accumulation in the lungs, which can lead to respiratory failure.
