Swiss Man (Passenger)

Swiss National Reference Center in Geneva confirmed the positive test on May 5; Swiss federal health authorities announced it publicly on May 6. The patient walked himself into the emergency department at University Hospital Zurich after first calling his GP; physicians say he has been stable since admission and the isolation period may extend to 45 days. A multi-country genetic analysis published on Virological.org on May 13 confirms his case (identified as 'case 7') groups with the typical naturally-occurring Andes lineage from Chile and Argentina - not a new variant

Swiss news outlets and federal health authorities consistently report that his cohabiting wife remains symptom-free in self-isolation and has not tested positive. The earlier claim that she became the cluster's first confirmed person-to-person transmission outside the ship is retracted

• bag.admin.ch
• virological.org
• swissinfo.ch

WHO DON and ECDC confirm the passenger disembarked at Saint Helena on April 22 (not April 24) and flew back to Switzerland on April 27-28 routing through South Africa and Qatar. He traveled with his wife, who remains asymptomatic and is in precautionary self-isolation while cantonal contact tracing continues. Admitted to University Hospital Zurich on May 4 with mild fever, joint pain, cough and slight decline in general condition; the Geneva University Hospital reference laboratory returned PCR-positive Andes virus on May 5 (Ct 20.5). Swiss FOPH reports the patient remains stable under strict isolation protocols; his isolate has been published as ANDV/Switzerland/Hu-3337/2026, clustering with Clade 3 O. longicaudatus reservoir variants

• who.int
• bag.admin.ch
• swissinfo.ch
• virological.org

Swiss male, age unknown. MV Hondius passenger. One of approximately 30 passengers who disembarked at Saint Helena on April 24. Traveled from Saint Helena back to Switzerland (route unknown). Symptoms developed after return. Confirmed positive by May 6. Hospitalized at University Hospital Zurich (USZ). His cohabitating partner (CH-001) subsequently became symptomatic May 4 — the first confirmed secondary transmission outside the ship environment. Wife also accompanied him but showed no symptoms, self-isolating. Sources: WHO, Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, CNN. Updated 2026-05-09: Symptoms began May 1, 2026 after his return; he self-isolated and contacted his GP by phone before going to USZ. PCR-positive for Andes virus May 5 by Swiss National Reference Center for Emerging Viral Infections (Geneva University Hospitals); publicly announced May 6 by Swiss FOPH. Wife (age 69, accompanied him) remained asymptomatic and self-isolating

WHO DON 2026-DON600, swissinfo.ch, cidrap.umn.edu, virological.org