Paris: A French woman infected with the Hantavirus on the MV Hondias cruise ship is now in critical condition and requiring life support with a ventilator, as the cumulative number of infections from this outbreak rises to 11. Dr. Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at a hospital in Paris, revealed that the French female patient had severe acute heart and lung failure. The medical team had to use an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, a final step in stabilizing her condition to allow her body time to recover.

According to Thai News Agency, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the latest information, stating that at least 11 cases of infection have been confirmed so far. The Spanish Ministry of Health confirmed the latest case, a Spanish passenger who was in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid. Meanwhile, 12 hospital staff members in the Netherlands have been ordered to self-isolate for six weeks after handling bodily fluids, including blood and urine, of a Hantavirus patient in violation of safety procedures.

The death toll remains at three, including a Dutch couple who are believed to have been among the first to be infected while birdwatching near a landfill in South America before boarding the cruise ship. The strain found in this group of patients is the Andes strain, which originated from rodents in South America. The alarming aspect of this strain is that it's the only hantavirus that can spread from person to person through close contact. This results in hantavirus respiratory syndrome (HPS), a condition that rapidly damages the lungs. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific treatment.

However, the World Health Organization stated that all infections remain confined to passengers and crew members only, and there are no signs of a widespread outbreak, but warned countries to remain vigilant as the disease has a long incubation period of 42-45 days.