The result discards, for now, the suspected case in Alicante and reduces concern in Spain, although the authorities maintain health surveillance due to the outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius.
Alicante woman tests negative for hantavirus
The Ministry of Health has confirmed this Friday afternoon that the woman residing in Alicante who had been considered a contact of a deceased person from hantavirus has tested negative in the PCR test.
The patient was under surveillance after having had contact with one of the deceased persons in the outbreak related to the cruise ship MV Hondius. The negative result rules out, for now, the infection in this specific case.
A case that had generated concern
The possible case in Alicante had raised attention in Spain because it was a contact linked to the international hantavirus outbreak, which has left several affected and three deceased.
The concern was greater because the virus identified in the outbreak is the Andes strain, a variant of hantavirus in which person-to-person transmission has been documented in situations of close and prolonged contact.
Health maintains surveillance
The negative of the woman from Alicante lowers the alarm, but does not eliminate the surveillance protocols. Health authorities maintain the monitoring of contacts and people related to the cruise ship MV Hondius.
The World Health Organization has insisted that the risk to the general population remains low, although contact tracing and medical evaluation of possible cases continue to be key.
What this result means
The negative result implies that the woman does not present a detectable hantavirus infection in the PCR test performed.
For health purposes, it is good news because it rules out one of the possible cases investigated in Spain and limits, for the moment, the possibility of transmission outside the environment directly linked to the cruise outbreak.