Spain: Spain hospitalizes woman linked to hantavirus victim on Johannesburg flight.

SHOTLIST: ALICANTE, SPAIN (MAY 8, 2026) 1. VARIOUS OF HOSPITAL IN ALICANTE TREATING SUSPECTED HANTAVIRUS CASE / AMBULANCES WAITING AT ENTRANCE OF HOSPITAL ALICANTE, SPAIN - MAY 8: A Spanish woman who briefly shared a flight with a Dutch passenger who later died from hantavirus in Johannesburg, South Africa, was hospitalized in Alicante, Spain, as a suspected case, Spanish health authorities said on Friday, May 8. Spain has approved a nationwide health protocol for passengers linked to a hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship Hondius, while also isolating a possible case connected to a flight carrying an infected passenger, the country’s secretary of state for health said Friday. Speaking at a press briefing, Javier Padilla Bernaldez said the protocol was unanimously approved by Spain’s regional governments through the Public Health Commission. Under the protocol, contacts of confirmed or suspected cases will be transferred to Madrid’s Gomez Ulla Central Defense Hospital, where they will undergo a PCR test upon arrival and another seven days later. Authorities will also conduct active surveillance, including twice-daily temperature checks and repeated symptom monitoring. If a person develops symptoms such as fever, they will be reclassified as a suspected case and moved to isolation for further testing, including blood, serum and respiratory samples, Padilla said. He added that psychological support would also be provided to affected passengers, with Spain’s mental health commissioner coordinating assistance with hospital staff. Padilla also confirmed that Spain was monitoring a possible hantavirus case linked to a commercial flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam involving a cruise passenger who later died from the virus. According to Padilla, international contact tracing protocols identified two passengers whose final destination was Spain. One later reported coughing and general malaise while staying at a family home in Alicante and was transferred to hospital as a precaution. The patient remains isolated while PCR tests are analyzed by Spain’s National Center for Microbiology, with results expected within 24 hours. The patient under observation in Alicante had been seated two rows behind the infected traveler and had only brief contact with her, which is why authorities consider a positive result “quite unlikely,” Padilla said. Another passenger on the flight, a South African citizen traveling to Spain, flew to Barcelona and stayed there for a week before returning to Johannesburg, Spanish health authorities said.