French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Tuesday that it was not certain whether the hantavirus strain involved in the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship may have mutated, although officials were “rather reassured”. “There are things … we do not know about this virus,” Rist told the National Assembly. “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 French health ministry did not respond to a request for additional comment. Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents but can be transmitted between people in rare cases, according to the World Health Organisation. It usually begins with flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and fever, one to eight weeks after exposure. A cluster has been linked in recent days to the MV Hondius ship, which docked in Spain’s Canary Islands following a polar expedition that departed from Argentina. The outbreak has been linked to the Andes s...