A SPANIARD placed into quarantine in a Madrid hospital has tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from a cruise ship
The Health Ministry on Monday said it was the second confirmed case involving the 14 Spanish nationals on the MV Hondius who disembarked in Tenerife on May 10.
They consisted of 13 passengers and one crew member- the first infection being confirmed the next day.
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The liner had been carrying around 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries.
A cluster of severe respiratory illnesses was first reported to the World Health Organisation on May 2.
The Ministry of Health said the new case was confirmed as positive while the patient was in preventive quarantine at Gomez Ulla military hospital in Madrid.
The person had been under clinical surveillance and placed into isolation.
“The positive case was detected during the periodic diagnostic checks carried out on the contacts under follow-up,” the Ministry said.
“Health authorities stress that the case was detected within the isolation and control system already in place, and therefore does not change the risk situation for the general population or alter the ongoing epidemiological response measures,” officials advised.
On Friday, the Ministry said that those under monitoring who have been asymptomatic and tested negative for the virus during the first 28 days from the time they were admitted could complete their mandatory 42 days of monitoring at home.
The 28-day hospital quarantine is due to end around June 7.
Health Minister, Monica Garcia, said on Friday that all 14 Spaniards in quarantine were ‘doing well’.
“Even the one who had symptoms has begun to be asymptomatic,” she commented.
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