Canadian from hantavirus-hit cruise ship tests positive

BBC – A Canadian who sailed on the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was hit by a hantavirus outbreak in April, has tested positive for the disease, officials in the province of British Columbia say.

The individual, one of four people isolating on Vancouver Island after leaving the ship, had developed mild symptoms.

The province’s senior health officer said the four had not had any contact with the public since arriving in Canada.

The case brings the total number of infections to 11, all among cruise passengers. Three people who travelled on the ship have died, with two confirmed to have had the virus.

British Columbia health officer Bonnie Henry said the person’s test came back as a presumptive positive on Friday, meaning that it still remains to be confirmed by a national microbiology lab.

“Clearly, this is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for,” she said, quoted by national broadcaster CBC.

“I want to emphasise that hantavirus is a very different virus than the other respiratory viruses that we’ve been dealing with – like Covid, like influenza, like measles – and it remains one that we do not consider to have pandemic potential,” Dr Henry added.

Of the six Canadians who were on the Dutch ship, two are self-isolating at their home in Ontario.

Two more couples are isolating on Vancouver Island, one from British Columbia and the other from Yukon. The person who tested positive is from Yukon.

None of the other five have tested positive so far.

The cruise ship, which set sail from Argentina on 1 April, docked in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, less than a week ago, allowing its passengers to leave and go into isolation.

The ship is due to arrive in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Monday, and remaining staff on board will disembark, its owner Oceanwide Expeditions said, adding that there are currently no symptomatic individuals on board.

The WHO has recommended 42 days of isolation for each person. The Canadians were initially required to isolate for 21 days, but Dr Henry said that timeline could now be adjusted.

Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain, which the WHO believes some of the ship’s passengers contracted in South America, is possible.

Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.

Officials say the risk of a major outbreak is very low.