French woman was told by doctors hantavirus symptoms were just anxiety

Spanish health minister says MV Hondius passenger, now in a ‘critical state’, had been suffering flu-like symptoms

A French woman who tested positive for hantavirus after she was evacuated from a cruise ship reported symptoms to doctors onboard but was told it was probably just anxiety, the Spanish health minister has said.

Javier Padilla Bernáldez said the woman, who had been travelling on the ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak, had been suffering flu-like symptoms but they appeared to be getting better and she did not have a fever. The World Health Organization later said the woman was in a “very critical” condition.