The Ministry of Health currently has under control four more contacts of the Franco-Argentine citizen affected by hantavirus Andes. With these new cases, the total number of people considered close contacts rises to six, according to the latest report from the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES). The document details that all of them remain asymptomatic and in quarantine at their homes.
The report specifies that two of these contacts were traveling on the Santiago de Chile-Madrid flight on July 18. Both continue to be asymptomatic, in isolation, and under monitoring at their home, under the supervision of the public health authorities of Castilla y León and the Community of Madrid, the autonomous communities where they reside.
Another two contacts shared a journey with the patient on the Madrid-Bordeaux flight on July 19. The detection of these two new contacts was communicated by the French health authorities. The two are asymptomatic and are in quarantine at their homes in Catalonia.
On the date of the report's preparation, August 10, Health indicates that the microbiological tests for these contacts are still pending, applying the same protocol that was followed with the previous ones, according to the "Protocol for the management of cases and contacts of hantavirus in Spain."
On the other hand, this Tuesday the Franco-Argentine citizen who had been isolated in Galicia since last Thursday after contracting Hantavirus in France was discharged from the hospital, after the PCR test performed "has returned negative."
Similarly, the two close contacts from his family environment who remained in quarantine at the same home have also been discharged after the PCR tests performed returned negative. However, they will remain isolated, as established by the Ministry of Health's protocol for this type of situation. In total, 42 days of isolation are contemplated, counted, as specified, from July 28.
Health maintains that the risk of transmission is currently "very low" for healthcare professionals and that, outside the healthcare setting, "the risk for the general population in Spain is extremely low," given that person-to-person transmission of hantavirus Andes, although possible, usually requires close and prolonged contact.
"Beyond the current event, the risk of infection by hantavirus Andes in Spain is extremely low, due to the absence of reservoirs and known circulation of this virus in our country," emphasizes the CCAES report.