Authorities report that an American and a French citizen, recently back in their home countries after departing a cruise ship ravaged by a fatal hantavirus outbreak, have tested positive for the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated on Monday that seven hantavirus infections tied to the MV Hondius stand confirmed, with two additional cases under suspicion.

A second US national aboard the repatriation flight displayed mild symptoms, according to the US health department. Officials transported both individuals home inside biocontainment units purely as a precaution.

French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist announced that a woman remains in isolation in Paris, her condition declining, while authorities have identified 22 close contacts.

Three people who sailed on the vessel have perished, including two with laboratory-confirmed hantavirus.

The WHO noted that the presumed initial patient in this outbreak died prior to any diagnostic testing.

Two British citizens carrying confirmed cases are undergoing care in the Netherlands and South Africa.

Typically spread by rodents, hantaviruses like the Andes variant - suspected by the WHO to have infected certain MV Hondius passengers during their South American stopover - can also transmit between humans.

Common signs range from fever and profound exhaustion to muscle soreness, gut pain, nausea, loose stools, and labored breathing.

Health experts maintain that chances of widespread transmission stay minimal.

More than 90 travelers from the MV Hondius, presently moored in Spain's Canary Islands, continue their return journeys.

Spanish authorities, updating from Tenerife on Monday, indicated 54 passengers and crew lingered onboard. Health Minister Mónica García specified six were guests: four from Australia, one Briton, and one New Zealander.

She mentioned 22 people would exit the ship Monday for a Netherlands-bound flight - among them the Australians, rerouted after their direct repatriation plane faced timing issues.

The MV Hondius planned to sail toward the Netherlands later that same day.

Meanwhile, four Canadians touched down in Victoria, British Columbia, Sunday night following a charter from Tenerife via Bagotville, Quebec. Officials require their self-quarantine and observation for a minimum of three weeks.

Early Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services confirmed all 17 Americans from Sunday's flight faced clinical evaluations at a Nebraska facility. They traveled with a US-based British national.

Seven more US travelers had already made it home earlier and now receive state-level surveillance.

Before the US positive result emerged, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that ignoring the organization's hantavirus protocols "may have risks".

WHO guidelines call for 42 days of quarantine for anyone leaving the MV Hondius.

Yet acting CDC Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya countered that stoking public fear was unwise, stressing rare person-to-person spread and rejecting Covid-like measures.

Photographs captured passengers in blue protective suits, hair covers, and masks stepping off Sunday at Tenerife's Granadilla de Abona harbor.

Those UK returnees landed via charter at Manchester Airport before heading to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, for 72 hours of isolation. No symptoms have surfaced among them.

Spain has placed 14 repatriated nationals under strict quarantine at a Madrid military hospital, with two further flights due Monday afternoon.

A distinct flight brought 26 passengers and crew - eight Dutch among them - to the Netherlands Sunday.

Ukraine reported Monday that four crew members would stick with the MV Hondius for its Netherlands transit, then enter medical quarantine upon docking.

One more Ukrainian planned to join the partial crew flight to the Netherlands.

The foreign ministry confirmed no health issues detected yet in these Ukrainians.

Oceanwide Expeditions, MV Hondius operator, shared a Monday video where the captain shared crew sympathies "with the ones that are no longer with us".

Captain Jan Dobrogowski called the recent weeks "extremely challenging to us all", while highlighting everyone's remarkable patience, discipline, and compassion aboard.

The Spanish health minister revealed during her briefing that a police officer aiding the repatriation effort had succumbed to cardiac arrest.

An elderly Dutch passenger marked the outbreak's first onboard death on 11 April aboard the MV Hondius, after falling ill - though untested, he counts as probable.

His 69-year-old wife disembarked at St Helena on 24 April, flew to South Africa, and passed away two days later at a Johannesburg clinic.

A German female passenger died onboard 2 May.

Laboratory tests verified hantavirus in both women.

The MV Hondius set off from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on 1 April and now rests at Granadilla port in southern Tenerife.