A Franco-Argentine tourist has tested positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus after transiting through France in late July, health authorities said. The man, who experienced only mild respiratory symptoms and was already asymptomatic when he travelled to Spain, has been isolated with his family at his accommodation in Galicia, where public health services are conducting contact tracing.
The Andes variant is the only known hantavirus strain capable of human-to-human transmission. France's health ministry convened a panel of scientific experts to assess the case.
The detection follows a hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius earlier this year that infected 13 people and killed three. The World Health Organization declared that outbreak over in early July.