UPDATE 1-Spain says it has detected suspected hantavirus case in Alicante

The suspected case involves ‌a woman who was a passenger on the ‌same flight as a patient who died in Johannesburg after travelling on the MV Hondius cruise ship and contracting the virus, ⁠Padilla ​said. The woman ⁠has been taken to a hospital in Alicante, where she ⁠remains in isolation, he added.

A ​woman in the ‌southeastern Spanish province ​of Alicante, part of the region of Valencia, has symptoms consistent ‌with a hantavirus infection, Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla told reporters on Friday. The suspected case involves ‌a woman who was a passenger on the ‌same flight as a patient who died in Johannesburg after travelling on the MV Hondius cruise ship and contracting the virus, ⁠Padilla ​said.

The woman ⁠has been taken to a hospital in Alicante, where she ⁠remains in isolation, he added. Her symptoms included coughing and "general ​malaise". The official said the Spanish woman was sitting ⁠two rows behind the cruise ship passenger, but the contact ⁠between ​them "was brief" since the passenger had only been "on board for a short time" during the ⁠flight.

Padilla added that health authorities in the Valencia region were ⁠tracing the ⁠people the woman has been in contact with over the past few days.