French authorities ordered a lockdown of a cruise ship carrying over 1,700 passengers and crew after a 90-year-old passenger died and about 50 others fell ill with gastrointestinal symptoms. Initial tests confirmed it was not the Hantavirus.
On 13 May 2026, French officials quarantined more than 1,700 people onboard the British-flagged cruise ship "Ambition" docked in Bordeaux after an elderly passenger died and around 50 showed symptoms of illness. Authorities stated that this was not an outbreak of Hantavirus, which had recently spread on another cruise ship the previous week.
The ship, operated by Ambassador Cruise Line, carries 1,233 passengers mostly from the UK and Ireland, along with 514 Indian crew members. It arrived at the western port of Bordeaux on Tuesday.
Officials reported one passenger aged 90 had died, and about 50 others experienced gastrointestinal symptoms. Preliminary tests confirmed it was not an outbreak of Norovirus, a highly contagious virus causing gastroenteritis with vomiting and diarrhea.
However, further secondary testing is ongoing, and food poisoning has not yet been ruled out.
Health authorities also confirmed the incident is unrelated to the Hantavirus outbreak suspected to have caused the deaths of three passengers aboard the Dutch ship MV Hondius, which traveled from Argentina.
Passengers on the Ambition first showed symptoms mostly on Monday while the ship was docked in Brest. The 90-year-old passenger died before the ship reached the Brittany region port in northwestern France.
The Ambition departed the Shetland Islands in northern Scotland on 6 May, stopped at Belfast in Northern Ireland, then Liverpool in England before arriving in Bordeaux. The ship was scheduled to continue on to Spain.
AFP reporters noted that on Wednesday, while docked in Bordeaux, there were no strict security measures around the ship, and passengers were seen casually taking photos of the city from the ship’s deck.
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Source:cna