French Health Minister Stephanie Rist has said it wasn't certain whether the hantavirus strain involved in the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship had mutated, officials were "rather reassured."
"There are things ... we do not know about this virus," Rist told the National Assembly on Tuesday. "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 World Health Organisation has said there was no indication that 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 9 cases and urged isolating 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.
UK precautionary isolation
Meanwhile, Britain said on Tuesday that 10 people from remote island territories, including cruise ship passengers and medical staff who had contact with confirmed cases in the hantavirus outbreak, will be brought to the UK for precautionary isolation.
The UK Health Security Agency said the individuals were already isolating and not showing symptoms. The move was intended as a precaution, it said.
All 10 people are British nationals.
The 10 people being transferred to Britain are from the overseas territories of Saint Helena and Ascension Island.
According to the cruise company's website, 32 guests and one crew member disembarked from the vessel at Saint Helena, and two guests had a medical evacuation via Ascension Island.
The governor of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha said in a statement on Monday that resident medical staff on Ascension Island who had treated a confirmed case were being relocated to Britain as a precaution, with replacement clinicians flown in to maintain healthcare on the island.
On Saint Helena, Governor Nigel Phillips said a small number of people who had travelled on the cruise ship were assessed as higher-risk contacts. While the likelihood of illness remained low, UKHSA advised they should also be moved to Britain to complete their self-isolation.
The health agency added that the risk to the wider public remained low and said it would continue contact tracing and monitoring of people linked to the ship.
