Spain’s Health Ministry has confirmed another person linked to the growing hantavirus monitoring operation connected to the MV Hondius outbreak.

Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla revealed on Friday that a woman living in Barcelona has now been identified as a contact linked to the case involving a Dutch passenger who died after travelling aboard the cruise ship.

According to Padilla, the woman currently has no symptoms.

Health officials said she had initially escaped detection during the first contact-tracing because she changed seats during the flight, making it harder for authorities to identify her during the reconstruction of passenger movements.

Under the protocol approved by Spanish health authorities on Friday morning, the woman now officially meets the criteria to be classified as a contact and will therefore be placed under monitoring and surveillance measures.

Catalan health authorities have already activated the relevant protocols and it has been agreed that any quarantine will take place within a hospital facility in Catalonia rather than transferring her elsewhere in Spain.

Officials said the decision was taken to reduce unnecessary interactions and avoid exposing additional people during transport.

The announcement comes just hours after Spanish authorities confirmed another suspected hantavirus case in Alicante.

That patient, a 32-year-old woman, was isolated in hospital after developing symptoms compatible with hantavirus following contact with one of the infected cruise passengers.

However, Padilla stressed that a positive result in the Alicante case is considered ‘unlikely’ because the contact was not regarded as especially close.

Test results are expected within the next 24 hours.

Officials explained that if the Alicante patient tests negative but continues to display symptoms, a second PCR test will be carried out.

If she tests negative and symptoms disappear, she will still be transferred to Madrid’s Gómez Ulla hospital to complete quarantine as a monitored close contact.

The cases form part of an expanding international health response linked to the MV Hondius outbreak, which has already triggered monitoring operations across several European countries and beyond.

The World Health Organisation has so far confirmed five hantavirus cases associated with the cruise ship while continuing to monitor several additional suspected infections.

Authorities continue to insist that the overall public health risk remains low despite the widening contact-tracing operation.