Spain says it has detected suspected hantavirus case in Alicante

MADRID, ⁠May 8 (Reuters) - 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. (Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Aislinn Laing, Victoria Waldersee)