French minister says it's uncertain if hantavirus strain from cruise ship has mutated

PARIS, May 12 (Reuters) - French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Tuesday it was uncertain whether the hantavirus strain involved in the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship may have mutated, although officials were "rather reassured."

"There are things ... we do not know about this virus," Rist told the National Assembly. "We do not yet have the complete sequencing of the virus, which allows us to say with certainty today, even if we are rather reassured to date ... that this virus has not yet mutated."

The French health ministry did not respond to a request for additional comment.

Olivier Schwartz, an epidemiologist from the Pasteur Institute, later told a press conference hosted by Rist: "So far, two viruses from the current cluster have been sequenced. One was in Zurich in Switzerland, which was the first case."

"Another sequence was obtained at the Pasteur Institute. What we saw was that this sequence was very similar to the one from Zurich ... The risk (of a variant) exists, but for now there is no evidence of it."

The World Health Organization has said there was no indication there was anything unusual about the hantavirus strain on the ship beyond its location.

The outbreak has been linked to the Andes strain of hantavirus, with officials consulting Argentina, where an outbreak involving the same strain ended in 2019.

The WHO has confirmed nine cases and urged isolation of suspected cases, adding that more are expected given passenger interactions before the virus was detected. However, it said there was no sign of a wider outbreak.

Separately, President Emmanuel Macron said the situation linked to the hantavirus was "currently under control," saying France had a "very rigorous case-tracing protocol."

French authorities have traced 22 contact cases, which are being tested and quarantined in hospitals and are doing well, Rist said.

The French woman, who was on the cruise ship hit by the outbreak and has tested positive, was in intensive care, she added.

That passenger was among five French people who were on the ship. The four other passengers have tested negative.