Portugal's First Suspected Hantavirus Case Tests Negative

A suspected case of hantavirus in Portugal has tested negative, easing concerns of a secondary outbreak linked to a cruise ship cluster.

The patient, an adult Portuguese national, was admitted to São Francisco Xavier Hospital in Lisbon on Monday with flu-like symptoms after traveling by plane. The individual had been in contact with confirmed cases from the MV Hondius cruise ship, which has been at the center of a hantavirus outbreak now affecting multiple countries.

The Directorate-General of Health (DGS) confirmed that all protocols were followed, including referral to the designated Curry Cabral reference hospital-the same facility that handled the first COVID-19 case in Lisbon. Under DGS guidelines, even a negative case must be retested within 42 days of last exposure.

Countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States are responding to similar cases using World Health Organization guidelines, which recommend six-week quarantines, PCR testing, and strict monitoring for high-risk contacts.