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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Via AP news wire

France says cruise ship Andes virus matches known South American viruses

France Hantavirus Ship - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

France’s Pasteur Institute said it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship and found that it matched viruses already known in South America, with no evidence so far of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.

“The analyzed virus corresponds to the viruses already known and monitored in South America,” Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said Friday on X. “At this stage, no element suggests the emergence” of a form of the virus that could be more transmissible or more dangerous, she said.

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