One month after the detection of a case of Andean hantavirus in France, 45 people placed in quarantine

One month after the detection of a case of hantavirus of the Andes strain in France, France Inter revealed, Monday September 7, that 45 people had to be placed in home quarantine. They were considered “high risk” contact cases, according to Didier Lepelletier, the Director General of Health. On August 6, the Ministry of Health indicated the detection of a case of Andean hantavirus, “an isolated case with no link to the patients of the MV Hondius [boat] from May 2026”. The patient, a Franco-Argentinian teenager, was on vacation with his family in France and Spain at the time.

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Among the 45 contact cases were relatives of the young man and caregivers who took care of him, according to the patient's mother contacted by France Inter. The teenager presented himself at the Limoges University Hospital on July 23 but had to wait 15 days before obtaining the result of the PCR test for hantavirus. The confirmation arrived on August 5. During the two weeks of waiting, the teenager traveled to Normandy and visited his relatives. He is in Spain when the result is announced on August 6. That day, the Ministry of Health indicated that the patient was “isolated with his family” and “no longer presents symptoms.”

“The initial serology alone did not ensure the diagnosis”