Hantavirus case confirmed: man visited France in July
Franco-Argentinian travelled through France before case of deadly Andes strain hantavirus was detected
A Franco-Argentinian man visiting France in July is confirmed to have tested positive for the ‘Andes’ strain of hantavirus, France’s health ministry announced yesterday (August 6).
The man, who displayed only mild symptoms and is now symptomless, is currently under isolation in Spain with his family.
The family travelled through France in the second half of July, but their exact location during their journey has not been made public.
“At this stage, we are not dealing with a virus that is circulating widely within the population,” the ministry said yesterday (August 6).
"All management measures are being implemented to care for the patient and trace their travel history,” it added.
The case was picked up by doctors, with knowledge of the disease more public following an outbreak on cruise ship MV Hondius earlier this year.
It is the first case of Andes strain hantavirus confirmed since May 25 in Europe.
It is not suspected to be linked to the cruise ship outbreak, however.
The current patient lives in Argentina, one of the South American countries in which the disease is endemic.
On July 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the end of the outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Hantavirus concerns downplayed
Hantavirus made global headlines in April following the outbreak of a deadly strain of the disease on a cruise ship that had visited South America.
While a milder Eurasian form of the disease infects around 100 people in France per year – largely in the north-east and thought transmitted by bank voles in the area’s waterways – the Andes strain from South America is significantly more dangerous.
It is the only variant of the virus that has been confirmed to spread between humans and has a fatality rate of up to 50%.
A delay between infection and symptoms appearing raises concerns that the disease could spread without detection.
A total of 27 French patients on the MV Hondius cruise ship or who took flights known to have included people carrying the disease were isolated upon their return to France.
Only one individual eventually tested positive for the illness, who spent three months in intensive care.
The high fatality rate and human to human transmission is the main cause of fear relating to the illness – with global pandemic anxiety heightened following Covid-19 – however there has never been a major outbreak of Andes strain hantavirus.
Human transmissibility usually requires continual close contact in a small location (such as on a cruise ship or plane); even where endemic there are typically fewer than 100 Andes strain hantavirus deaths per year.
Some health professionals have therefore played down the current case.
“We are dealing with an isolated patient who exhibited extremely limited symptoms and is currently doing well. This is extremely reassuring in terms of transmission; it is a completely different situation from the cruise ship incident,” said infectious disease specialist at Bichat Hospital, Paris, Nathan Peiffer-Smadja to Le Monde.
