Three European countries receive first shipments of hantavirus treatment drug

The first doses of an experimental antiviral treatment for hantavirus are being dispatched to France, Spain and the Netherlands, the European Commission said.

In the absence of a specific approved treatment for hantavirus, the European Medicines Agency identified favipiravir as the most plausible candidate for use under clinical trial or compassionate use protocols, the Commission said in a statement.

Fujifilm Pharmaceuticals in Japan donated 1,400 tablets of favipiravir, which had been requested by France, Spain and the Netherlands.

The European Union is launching emergency procurement procedures to secure additional doses in case further hantavirus cases are confirmed in the coming weeks.

So far, 13 people have tested positive for hantavirus linked to a cruise ship at the centre of the outbreak. Patients are being treated in the Netherlands, France and Spain, as well as in Switzerland, the United States and South Africa.

Rodent-borne hantaviruses can cause illness, with the World Health Organization estimating as many as 100,000 human cases globally each year.

The virus can be fatal, although severity depends on the strain and it does not spread easily between humans.

Three people have died since the start of the latest outbreak.

By Vafa Guliyeva