THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) 鈥� A Spanish passenger evacuated from the cruise ship at the center of a outbreak has tested positive for the virus, Spain鈥檚 health ministry announced Tuesday as the World Health Organization said it has now confirmed 11 cases, including three people from the cruise who died.
The passenger with the new confirmed case of hantavirus was in quarantine in a military hospital in Madrid, where 13 other Spanish nationals evacuated Sunday 鈥� who all tested negative for the virus 鈥� also are staying.
With the of all passengers and many crew members completed, the MV Hondius is now sailing back to the the Netherlands, where it will be cleaned and disinfected.
The director of the World Health Organization, who was in Madrid, said all 11 confirmed cases are among passengers or crew of the MV Hondius cruise ship, including three people who died. Nine of the 11 cases have been confirmed as the Andes virus.
鈥淭hese numbers have changed little over the past week thanks to the governments of multiple countries and partners,鈥� Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said.
鈥淎t the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,鈥� he added, 鈥渂ut of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it鈥檚 possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.鈥�
Meanwhile, 12 staff members at a Dutch hospital where a hantavirus patient is being treated were told to quarantine after incorrectly handling bodily fluids.
In a Paris hospital, a French woman evacuated from the stricken ship remained in intensive care in stable condition. The French government was holding two new hantavirus emergency meetings Tuesday, the prime minister said.
Health authorities say it鈥檚 the first hantavirus outbreak . While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates.
The evacuation of the MV Hondius is complete
A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew were escorted from the to shore in Tenerife by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks in a carefully choreographed effort that ended Monday night. Remaining crew members then took on supplies and set course for the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, the ship鈥檚 operator Oceanwide Expeditions said.
Two aircraft arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight. The first was carrying 19 of the ship鈥檚 crew and three medics. The Dutch nationals were taken home to quarantine and the others, including 17 crew members from the Philippines, were sent to a quarantine facility set up by Dutch health authorities.
A second plane landed later in Eindhoven chartered by Australian authorities and carrying six Hondius passengers 鈥� four Australians, one person from New Zealand and a British national who lives in Australia, according to the Dutch foreign ministry. It said the passengers will remain in quarantine near the airport and continue their journey toward Australia 鈥渁s soon as possible.鈥� Australian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for more details.
Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. But detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms 鈥� which can include fever, chills and muscle aches 鈥� usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.
WHO chief Tedros has advised that returning passengers should stay in quarantine, either in their homes or in other facilities, for 42 days. He added that WHO cannot enforce its guidance, and that different countries may handle the monitoring of passengers without symptoms in different ways.
Dutch hospital staff quarantined
Twelve employees at a Dutch hospital where a passenger from the Hondius is being treated have to quarantine for six weeks after improperly handling bodily fluids, Radboud University Medical Center said in a statement Monday night.
The 鈥渞isk of infection is low鈥� the hospital said, but was requiring the dozen employees to go into preventive quarantine as a 鈥減recaution.鈥�
The hospital in the eastern city of Nijmegen received a passenger last week from one of the evacuation flights that landed in the Netherlands and the person has since tested positive for hantavirus.
Blood and urine from the patient should have been handled 鈥渁ccording to a stricter procedure,鈥� the hospital said.
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Associated Press writers Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Molly Quell in The Hague, Netherlands, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
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