A French woman who tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship has seen her health deteriorate in hospital, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist confirmed Monday.

Evacuation and Symptoms

The woman was among five French passengers repatriated to Paris from the cruise ship on Sunday. She began showing symptoms during the flight to Paris, Rist told France-Inter radio. The evacuation effort involved over 140 passengers from the MV Hondius, which anchored in the Canary Islands.

Global Evacuation Efforts

Passengers from the ship began flying home on military and government planes Sunday. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorted travelers from the ship to shore in Tenerife. The evacuation was ongoing Monday, with planes arriving in Tenerife to fly out passengers from more than 20 countries.

Health Officials' Response

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus assured the public that the outbreak is not another COVID-19 and the risk to the public is low. "They shouldn’t be scared, and they shouldn’t panic," he said Sunday.

Hantavirus typically spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. However, the Andes virus detected in this outbreak may spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually appear between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Monitoring and Quarantine Measures

WHO recommends that passengers' home countries implement active monitoring and follow-up, including daily health checks. Numerous countries have quarantined or hospitalized their citizens for observation.

Earlier, officials from the Spanish Health Ministry, WHO, and the cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions had stated that none of the more than 140 people on the Hondius showed symptoms of the virus at the time. However, three people have died since the outbreak began, and five people who left the ship earlier were infected.

In the U.S., one American among the 17 being flown to Nebraska tested positive for hantavirus but has no symptoms, officials said late Sunday.