French hantavirus patient is critically ill and on an artificial lung as outbreak grows to 11

[orangecrush]

PARIS (AP) — A French woman infected in the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the sickened passenger said Tuesday. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, 9 of which have been confirmed.

Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The French passenger hospitalized in Paris has a severe form of the disease that has caused life-threatening lung and heart problems, said Dr. Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bichat Hospital.

He said the woman is on a life-support device that pumps blood through an artificial lung, providing it with oxygen and returning it to the body. The hope is that the device relieves enough pressure on the lungs and heart to give them some time to recover. Lescure called it “the final stage of supportive care.”

https://apnews.com/article/hantavirus-outbreak-hondius-cruise-ship-ac42357c5c3ae1694a93f1d43ba38bdb


I read elsewhere that the ship the outbreak occurred on is being "cleaned and sanitized".

Who in their right mind would board this ship as a passenger after this?

[Johnny2X2X]

1. Something about this doesn't seem to make sense

They're saying Hantavirus isn't that easily spread, it takes prolonged and close contact. And people think, "Oh, well, a cruise ship, so, makes sense." But cruise ships aren't really the petri dishes people imagine, they're no more crowded than a mall and there's plenty of open air and room. Seems like it spread pretty easily.

[hlthe2b]

2. Shared ventilation is an issue... Many cruise ships are vulnerable to spread of respiratory

pathogens with extended cabin time (isolation episodes). A lot of work on this during COVID-19 peak concern and while I'm sure some major liners have tried to address it the cost can be astronomical so, I'd doubt many have. And yes, many are PETRI DISHES... More so for noroviruses that are among the most readily spread contact viruses (live a long time on surfaces untreated), but my point with respiratory-spread viruses remains.

[orangecrush]

3. This country won't survive a second pandemic

With these whackjobs in power.

[LisaL]

6. ITA.

While it appears to be less infectious than covid, it is a lot more deadly. Also, viruses mutate and can become more infectious, as we all know with covid. So if it spreads we are up the creek without a paddle, with Trump and RFKjr in charge.
Instead of vaccines and medications, II am sure we will be advised to take bleach enemas or something like that.

[LisaL]

4. Prolonged close contact is not necessary to spread it.

For instance, an infected individual managed to spread at a birthday party, which was 90 minutes. It's not exactly prolonged. One person just had a a brief infraction with an infected individual and still got infected. A couple of others were sitting four feet away and got infected. So prolonged and close contact is not necessary.
"During the 90 minutes he was at the party, he infected five others, including two people sitting roughly a foot from him at the same table and two people who were sitting roughly 4 feet away from him at neighboring tables. The fifth person to catch the virus crossed paths with the patient only briefly on their way to the restroom."
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/06/health/andes-strain-hantavirus-explained

[milestogo]

7. Stay away from the salad bar.

[bamagal62]

8. I read a CNN article

That said the first day of symptoms, when the initial fever starts to emerge, the person is contagious within a couple of feet and with just walking past. So, there are 24 hours where it can be passed to someone else very easily. Unfortunately, that’s the time during any kind and of cold or flu where you might just take ibuprofen and keep going about your day just thinking your a bit under the weather and then pass it to someone. And, the incubation time with this virus can be quite long. Therefore difficult to trace. Luckily, I think the R-factor with hantavirus is quite low due to only being very contagious for about 24 hours.

[Ms. Toad]

9. No one with a fever should just be taking ibuprofen and keeping going.

Standard protocol for fevers (as far back as when I was in elementary school 6 decades ago) was stay home until you have been without a fever for 24 hours. Because the flu can be deadly to some individuals, I would NEVER go out in public with a fever. It's even more important since COVID appeared.

(And work/school should not be rewarding perfect attendance/punishing people who act responsibly with regard to contagious illnesses.

[bamagal62]

14. I didn't say they should.

But, they do. (I taught Kindergarten for years. So I’m a firm believer in the 24 hour rule. But, people don’t follow it.)

[yardwork]

10. This type of hantavirus spreads from person to person.

It's rare for people to catch it because it's only found in remote areas of the Andes.

The couple who caught it in Peru and brought it to the ship were an ornithologist and his wife. They visited a huge landfill (a dump) which is infested with rats who carry this type of hantavirus. Locals avoid this dump, but these tourists wanted to see a rare bird that lives there.

They caught this rare, deadly disease that spreads from person to person and got on a cruise ship, where it spread to others.

This is an example of how humans come in contact with rare, deadly diseases by going into places we don't belong. It's how COVID was unleashed.

[Passages]

5. Recommend.

[orangecrush]

11. Thank you

[Passages]

12. You're welcome, I appreciate the additional information you posted.

I know I am a bit on edge about it.

[orangecrush]

13. Can't blame you

Same here.