Two rat plague ship evacuees have tested positive for the deadly disease just hours after health officials had given them the all-clear to leave the ship.
A French woman was confirmed to have the deadly hantavirus after falling ill on her repatriation flight, as a US citizen also tested positive.
The French passenger began to develop symptoms for the pathogen while on board a plane to Paris on Sunday.
She later tested positive for the virus, with her condition deteriorating as the plane landed in the French capital, according to French Health Minister Stephanie Rist.
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The woman has been placed in strict isolation while the four other French passengers she was evacuated with go through tests.
French authorities have also traced 22 contact cases in recent days, Rist told France Inter radio broadcaster.
These include eight people who traveled on an April 25 flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg and 14 more on a flight between Johannesburg and Amsterdam.
A second American passenger has also started showing mild symptoms after leaving the MV Hondius yesterday.
This has put the high-stakes rescue operation into jeopardy and raised serious questions over its planning and health screening protocols, after officials repeatedly insisted there was little cause for concern.
Both Americans have been put in biocontainment units “out of an abundance of caution” on their charter plane, which is thought to have a Brit citizen on board.
They will undergo clinical testing when they land.
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The new cases left the ill-fated MV Hondius around 10 hours apart yesterday and were on different flights to different countries, meaning the virus is not contained to one evacuation group.
None of the passengers were tested on board for the deadly hantavirus when the ship anchored yesterday.
Instead, they only faced a medical assessment involving answering questions and having public health officials check temperatures and for any irregular symptoms.
The priority was to evacuate asymptomatic passengers as quickly as possible and isolate them to be tested and monitored in their home countries.
The virus can take eight weeks to incubate, and officials wanted to avoid false positives.
Spanish ministers and the World Health Organization officials repeatedly said yesterday everyone aboard the boat was “asymptomatic,” allowing them to disembark.
And WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros said no one should worry about the evacuation, as the risk was “low,” insisting: “This is not another Covid.”
This risks reigniting a tense political row between the local Canary Islands, which wanted to block permission for the ship’s arrival on health grounds, and the central Spanish government, which intervened and overruled them.
Officials evacuated 94 stranded passengers across 19 nationalities from the MV Hondius yesterday in the first of a two-day operation.
Some 20 British citizens were put on a chartered plane to the UK, which took off at 5:05 pm.
They were the fifth group off the boat, following groups going to Spain, France, Canada, and the Netherlands.
The Brits gave signals of reassurance from a military bus taking them from the Port of Granadilla to the island’s south airport.
This ended more than a week of hell after being trapped on the liner following an outbreak of deadly hantavirus, which has killed three passengers.
The rescue mission followed tension over Hondius’ arrival in Tenerife — with locals and port workers threatening to protest.
The ship anchored 600 yards offshore just after 6 am.
Public health workers in hazmat suits then sailed up to it and entered to screen the passengers.
They were evacuated in small groups by nationality, starting with the Spaniards at around 9:40 am.
US citizens were the last to leave last night. The evacuation was due to end today with the flight to Australia, which will also carry a New Zealander and Asian passengers.
Patient zero was last week identified as ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, 70, who boarded the ship with his wife, Mirjam, 69.
He is believed to have caught the virus from an Argentinian rat after visiting a landfill site on March 27.
The birdwatching hotspot is home to a rare species of Patagonian bird, including a white-bellied seedsnip.
The couple, from the small Netherlands village Haulerwijk, had been on a five-month trip around South America.
Leo was the first to die from the bug on board the ship.
Three Britons have been confirmed or suspected to have it, including crew member Mark Anstee, who was airlifted from the ship to be treated in the Netherlands.
Deputy Editor & UK News
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