France’s Pasteur Institute says it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Health Minister Stéphanie Rist reports that the genomic analysis shows the virus corresponds to strains already known and monitored in South America. According to Rist, there is currently no evidence that the virus has acquired new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous. Pasteur also says its work indicates the virus found in the French passenger matches the virus detected in other cases aboard the same ship and closely resembles previously circulating Andes virus samples from South America. Rist adds that the sequencing results are intended to support improved understanding of the pathogen and to enable close public health monitoring. She says the findings will be shared with the international scientific community. Overall, the French authorities’ assessment is focused on characterization through sequencing and on evaluating whether the virus shows signs of change that could affect risk.