GENEVA, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Swiss health authorities said Wednesday that one person infected with hantavirus is being treated at the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) after returning from a cruise trip to South America linked to multiple hantavirus cases.

The patient, a man who returned to Switzerland with his wife at the end of April, tested positive for the Andes virus, a hantavirus strain found in South America, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said in a statement.

After developing symptoms, the man contacted his general practitioner and was referred to USZ, where he was immediately placed in isolation. Laboratory testing conducted at the Geneva University Hospitals confirmed the infection.

Swiss authorities said the hospital is fully equipped to treat the patient and ensure the safety of medical staff and other patients. The FOPH assessed the risk to the Swiss public as low.

Unlike European hantaviruses, which are typically transmitted through contact with excretions from infected rodents, the Andes virus has in rare cases been transmitted from person to person through close contact.

The patient's wife, who traveled with him, has not shown symptoms but is self-isolating as a precaution. Cantonal authorities are tracing potential contacts during the infectious period.

The FOPH said it remains in close coordination with relevant agencies and is monitoring the situation closely.

Hantavirus fever is rare in Switzerland, with between zero and six cases reported annually in recent years, most linked to infections acquired abroad.

The World Health Organization said on May 2 that passengers aboard the cruise ship Hundius sailing in the Atlantic Ocean had experienced severe acute respiratory illness, resulting in deaths. The deadly disease outbreak has triggered an international public health response. ■