Hantavirus update sees officials race to trace 30 cruise passengers worldwide as third Brit is diagnosed
World health officials are working to track down 30 individuals who evacuated the MV Hondius before knowing they'd been exposed to hantavirus.
A deadly outbreak occurred on the Dutch ship that resulted in the deaths of three passengers.
A further three holidaymakers - a Brit, a German and a Dutchman - suspected of having contracted the virus were also medically evacuated from the vessel earlier this week, after which they were flown to the Netherlands to receive specialist medical care.
Two other UK residents were also removed from the boat, returned home and placed into 45-day self-isolation.
Advert
Executives from cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions shared their latest update on Thursday (7 May). They confirmed that 30 passengers had disembarked from the boat on 24 April at St Helena - two weeks after the first death.
Health authorities are now trying to track down the group, as well as those who might have come into contact with them since they returned home.
Amongst them are six Americans, from Georgia, Arizona, California and Virginia. Donald Trump's administration claimed it was 'closely monitoring the situation', with its Department of State making direct contact with the passengers.
It was simultaneously confirmed by UK authorities that a third British national, currently under assessment on the island of Tristan de Cunha, had been diagnosed with suspected hantavirus.
A Dutch flight attendant has also been hospitalised after she came into contact with a cruise ship passenger who later died of hantavirus.
The cabin crew member had been onboard a flight that a woman who'd previously travelled on the infected vessel - and whose husband was the first victim - had been forced to disembark after feeling unwell.
The woman, 69, later died in a hospital in Johannesburg.
Officials are now monitoring the status of the flight attendant who, if she begins presenting symptoms of hantavirus, will become the first person to contract the infection who hadn't been on board the ship.
Despite this, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials don't believe the outbreak will become an epidemic as of yet.
"This is not Covid; this is not influenza," American epidemiologist and WHO technical adviser, Maria Van Kerkhove, explained. "This is not the start of an epidemic; this is not the start of a pandemic."
It was alleged earlier this week that the couple that died had likely contracted the initial virus during a birdwatching expedition in Ushuaia in the southernmost area of Argentina, which took them to a landfill site, likely littered with rodents.
The rare disease traditionally spreads through contact with the urine or faeces of rats and mice, via the inhalation of contaminated airborne particles from droppings, or through bites or scratches.
It has been suggested, however, that this week's outbreak - involving an even rarer strain of the virus called the 'Andes' variant - had begun spreading between humans as a result of the close living quarters prevalent on the ships.
The ship carried around 150 passengers, departing from Argentina and stopping in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan, St. Helena, Ascension and Cape Verde, where it was forced to dock for several days until officials assessed the situation.
Earlier this week, this ship was given permission to dock in the Canary Islands.
A timeline of the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius
1 April - The MV Hondius cruise ship departs Ushuaia, Argentina, going on to visit Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, and Ascension Island. Around 150 people are on board, of 23 different nationalities.
6 April - A 69-year-old Dutch man complains of a fever, headache, and mild diarrhoea while onboard.
11 April - The man’s condition deteriorates. He dies following respiratory distress.
12 April - The captain of the MV Hondius breaks the news of the man’s death to passengers. According to one of the passengers, the captain says the man died of natural causes and there is no contagion. Life continues as normal on board the ship.
24 April - The man’s wife, also 69 and from the Netherlands, goes ashore in St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms. On the same day, a British man presents to the ship’s doctor with shortness of breath and signs of pneumonia.
25 April - The Dutch woman boards an Airlink flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. Contact tracing efforts follow in the coming days to track down the 82 passengers and six crew members onboard the flight.
26 April - The 69-year-old Dutch woman dies after arriving at the emergency department in Johannesburg, South Africa. Meanwhile, the British man’s condition deteriorates.
27 April - The British man is medically evacuated from Ascension Island to South Africa. He remains in intensive care in Johannesburg. The MV Hondius initiates its SHIELD response health and safety plan.
28 April - A German passenger develops a fever.
2 May - The German passenger dies following pneumonia symptoms. Laboratory testing confirms the British man has hantavirus. The World Health Organisation is notified by the UK.
4 May - The Dutch woman is also confirmed to have had hantavirus. The ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, confirms that there are two crew members, one British and one Dutch, with acute respiratory symptoms who require urgent medical attention.
6 May - Swiss authorities confirm a case of hantavirus from a passenger of the MV Hondius who heard of the outbreak and presented himself at a hospital in Zurich. The two crew members, along with a close contact of the German passenger who died on 2 May, are medically evacuated from MV Hondius. Of these three passengers, two are now in stable condition in hospital, and one is asymptomatic in Germany. The MV Hondius heads North for the Canary Islands. Oceanwide Expeditions says no symptomatic individuals remain on the ship
8 May - The UK confirms a third British national has suspected hantavirus on the remote island of Tristan da Cunha.
10 May - The MV Hondius is scheduled to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife
Topics: World News, News, UK News, Health, True Life, Real Life
Rhianna Benson