Hantavirus outbreak: Countries tracking disembarked passengers to lower risk of virus spreading further
Countries across the globe are scrambling to track passengers from MV Hondius to prevent a further spread of hantavirus.
Four Australians are among the passengers aboard MV Hondius who are set to disembark in the Canary Islands over the weekend, despite a deadly hantavirus outbreak.
Three people — a Dutch couple and a German citizen — died in the outbreak on the polar cruise ship.
In total, five people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another three suspected cases, the World Health Organisation said.
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Countries across the globe are scrambling to track any passengers who left the ship before the outbreak of the virus, as well as anyone they have been in contact with.
All passengers who disembarked in St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the ship made a stop on April 24, have been contacted, the ship’s operator said.
This included people from at least 12 countries, among them seven United Kingdom citizens and six from the United States.
In Switzerland, a man who travelled on the cruise ship and was admitted to a hospital tested positive for the infection, officials said.
A Danish citizen who was aboard the Hondius has returned home and has been advised to self-isolate as a precaution, Danish health authorities said.
In Canada, officials said that two Canadians on the cruise returned home before the outbreak was identified and another Canadian was on the same flight as a symptomatic person.
All three are currently asymptomatic.
The cruise, which set sail from Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 destined for Cape Verde, counted 88 passengers and 59 crew members, with 23 nationalities onboard.
Three patients were taken away from the ship on Wednesday and two were admitted to a Dutch hospital while another was transferred to Germany for medical care.
Of the dozens of passengers remaining on the ship, no one has reported any symptoms.
The WHO said it was preparing guidelines for those still aboard MV Hondius ahead of its expected arrival in the Canary Islands on Saturday or Sunday, local time.
Passengers are set to disembark and travel to their home countries, including Australia.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is ready to provide consular assistance, if necessary.
“(DFAT) is aware of four Australians aboard the MV Hondius,” a spokesperson told The Nightly.
“DFAT is not aware of any Australians affected by the reported hantavirus outbreak.”
The WHO repeated that the risk to the general public was low even if the Andean strain of the virus, found in several victims, can in rare cases be transmitted among humans.
“This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic management, told a press conference.
“This is not the same situation we were in six years ago.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was closely monitoring the situation, adding that the risk to the public was extremely low at the time.
Investigators now believe the outbreak may have originated from a couple who boarded the ship after visiting a landfill site in Ushuaia, Argentina, to take part in birdwatching, where they may have been exposed to infected rodents. Both later died.
