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A growing international health scare surrounding a luxury expedition cruise has intensified after a US national aboard a government repatriation flight tested positive for hantavirus, raising new fears about the deadly outbreak linked to the MV Hondius.

US health officials confirmed that another passenger is also showing mild symptoms after leaving the cruise ship, where multiple deaths have already been reported. The alarming development comes as dozens of passengers from several countries are rushed home under strict medical precautions while authorities race to contain any possible spread.

The US Department of Health and Human Services said both passengers travelled in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution” aboard the chartered flight.

Now, all 17 US citizens on the plane are being transferred for additional screening and clinical assessments at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The passengers are among more than 90 people from the MV Hondius currently being repatriated from Spain’s Canary Islands after the outbreak turned the expedition voyage into a global health emergency.

Officials continue to insist the risk of a major outbreak remains low.

Still, the death toll has already rattled international health authorities.

Three passengers, including a Dutch couple and a German woman, died after travelling aboard the vessel. Two of those victims were confirmed to have contracted the virus.

What Is Hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are typically spread through contact with infected rodents, but experts are closely monitoring the Andes strain connected to this outbreak because it can spread between humans in rare cases.

The World Health Organization believes some passengers may have contracted the virus while travelling in South America before boarding the ship.

Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.

The US health department said all passengers arriving on the repatriation flight “will undergo clinical assessment” as doctors monitor for signs of worsening illness.

Another seven US passengers had already returned home earlier and are now being monitored by health officials in their respective states.

A British national living in the United States was also evacuated alongside the American passengers.

WHO Warns of Risks

The outbreak has triggered growing tension between global health officials and the United States over how aggressively passengers should be quarantined.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the US decision not to follow the organization’s recommended isolation protocols “may have risks.”

The WHO has advised that anyone leaving the MV Hondius isolate for 42 days.

But Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pushed back against comparisons to the Covid pandemic.

He said he did not want to fuel public panic and stressed that human-to-human transmission remains rare.

“It should not be treated like the Covid virus,” he said.

Passengers Seen in Protective Gear

Images from Tenerife on Sunday captured the seriousness of the response operation.

Cruise ship passengers wearing blue medical gowns, bouffant caps and face masks were seen disembarking at the port of Granadilla de Abona under tight health controls.

The outbreak is now stretching across multiple continents as governments scramble to track passengers and possible contacts.

French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist confirmed that a French woman evacuated from the ship tested positive after arriving back in France.

The woman is isolating in Paris, but officials say her condition is deteriorating.

French authorities have already identified 22 contact cases linked to the infected passenger.

She was one of five French nationals aboard the vessel.

Mass International Evacuations Underway

Britain also launched emergency repatriation efforts over the weekend.

A charter flight carrying 20 British nationals landed at Manchester Airport on Sunday before passengers were transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral for a 72-hour isolation period.

None of the British passengers have reported symptoms so far.

However, two other British nationals with confirmed hantavirus cases are currently receiving treatment in the Netherlands and South Africa.

Spain has imposed even stricter measures.

Fourteen Spanish passengers flown to Madrid now face mandatory quarantine inside a military hospital, while two additional evacuation flights are scheduled.

Meanwhile, another aircraft carrying 26 passengers and crew members, including eight Dutch nationals, arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday.

Officials said six passengers are expected to return to Australia, while another 18 will continue on to the Netherlands aboard separate flights also carrying passengers from countries that did not organize their own evacuation operations.

As health officials across Europe and the United States intensify screenings, tracing efforts and quarantines, the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is rapidly becoming a high-stakes international test of how governments respond to a rare but deadly virus threat.