SA tracks four possible hantavirus cases from cruise ship

Health officials in South Africa are watching four people in Cape Town who may have been exposed to hantavirus after an outbreak on a cruise ship. Countries around the world are expanding their search for anyone who came into contact with infected passengers.

Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the National Health Department, said one of the four people being tracked has developed symptoms linked to the virus and is now undergoing laboratory tests.

“The department is identifying, tracing and monitoring everyone who was on the flight between Saint Helena and OR Tambo International Airport with those who tested positive,” Mohale told SABC News. He added that in the Western Cape province, four people have been identified for contact tracing.

The outbreak began on the MV Hondius, a cruise ship where three people have died: a Dutch couple and a German national. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says eight others, including a Swiss citizen, are suspected of having the disease.

About 40 passengers left the ship in Saint Helena before the outbreak was officially reported, according to the Dutch government. Among them was the wife of one of the Dutch victims. She fell ill and died before reaching the Netherlands. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said she was removed from a flight in Johannesburg on April 25 after her condition worsened.

The virus involved is the Andean strain of hantavirus, a rare type that can spread between people through very close contact. Medical experts say such transmission is still uncommon, but the outbreak has put health agencies on high alert.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it is watching the situation involving American passengers but believes the risk to the US public remains very low. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said one French citizen had contact with an infected passenger but has no symptoms.

Argentina plans to trap and test rodents in Ushuaia, the southern city where the cruise ship began its journey. The MV Hondius, carrying nearly 150 passengers and crew, is expected to dock in Tenerife by Saturday.

SOURCES: WHO