AMSTERDAM/GENEVA, May 8 — Countries worldwide moved to prevent further spread of hantavirus yesterday following an outbreak aboard a cruise ship, by tracing passengers who had disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone who had close contact with them.
Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — died in the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius.
In total, five people have been confirmed to have contracted the virus, while another three are suspected cases, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can, in rare cases, be transmitted from person to person.
All passengers who disembarked in St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the ship stopped on April 24, have been contacted, the ship’s operator said. The passengers included people from at least 12 countries, among them seven British citizens and six Americans. The first confirmed case linked to the outbreak emerged in early May.
WHO urges calm
The WHO reiterated that the risk to the general public remained low, even though the Andean strain of the virus, detected in several victims, can in rare instances spread among humans.
“This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” WHO director of epidemic and pandemic management Maria Van Kerkhove told a press conference.
“This is not the same situation we were in six years ago.”
The WHO said it was preparing step-by-step guidance for when dozens of passengers still aboard the ship arrive in the Canary Islands on Saturday or Sunday before travelling home. None of the remaining passengers are currently showing symptoms.
Contact tracing underway
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was closely monitoring the situation, adding that the risk to the American public remained extremely low.
President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday he had been briefed on the hantavirus outbreak and expressed hope that it was under control.
“It’s very much, we hope, under control,” Trump said.
Asked whether Americans should be worried about the virus spreading, Trump replied: “I hope not.” He also said, without elaborating, that a report on the virus was expected today.
The Georgia Department of Public Health said it was monitoring two asymptomatic residents who had returned home after disembarking from the cruise ship.
The Arizona Department of Health Services said it was monitoring one resident who had also been aboard the ship and remained asymptomatic. According to the New York Times, California authorities were monitoring several residents who had travelled on the ship.
In Texas, officials said two residents who were passengers on the ship returned to the US before the outbreak was identified.
French officials said one citizen had been in contact with a person who fell ill but was not showing symptoms.
Oceanwide Expeditions said it was working to establish the details of all passengers and crew who embarked and disembarked at various stops since March 20.
The Dutch couple who died, believed to be among the first hantavirus cases in the outbreak, boarded the ship on April 1.
Dutch airline KLM said it removed the Dutch woman from a plane in Johannesburg on April 25 due to her deteriorating condition. She died before reaching the Netherlands.
According to broadcaster RTL, a KLM stewardess who had been in contact with the woman was admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam after developing possible hantavirus symptoms.
Dutch authorities told public broadcaster NOS that crew members and passengers who assisted the woman were receiving daily health checks.
Evacuations and testing
Three patients were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday. Two were admitted to a hospital in the Netherlands, while another was transferred to Germany for treatment.
Expedition guide Martin Anstee, one of the evacuees hospitalised in the Netherlands, told Sky News he was “doing okay” but said “there are still lots of tests to be done”.
The Düsseldorf University Clinic, which is treating the German evacuee, said she was not a confirmed case but rather a close contact undergoing tests.
In Switzerland, officials said a man who travelled on the cruise ship tested positive for the infection after being admitted to hospital.
A Danish citizen who was aboard the Hondius has returned home and was advised to self-isolate as a precaution, Danish health authorities said.
Canadian officials said two Canadians who had travelled on the cruise returned home before the outbreak was identified, while another Canadian was on the same flight as a symptomatic passenger. All three are currently asymptomatic.
