A 25-year-old Italian man has reportedly developed symptoms consistent with Hantavirus after briefly sharing a KLM aircraft with a Dutch woman later confirmed to have been infected with the Andes strain of the virus.
According to Italian media reports cited by Reuters and ANSA, the woman boarded the aircraft in Johannesburg but disembarked before departure and died 24 hours later. The Italian passenger, who was travelling on the same plane from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, has since been hospitalised while infectious disease specialists analyse samples to determine whether he is infected.
The case is linked to the wider hantavirus incident involving a cruise ship outbreak that has prompted international contact tracing efforts and medical monitoring in several countries.