Health authorities spanning four continents are urgently working to locate and monitor passengers who left ahantavirus-strickencruise ship before its fatal outbreak was detected, while simultaneously trying to trace others who may have been exposed through contact with them.
Three passengers have died as a result of the outbreak— a Dutch couple and a German national — with a number of others currently ill. Symptoms typically appear between one and eight weeks after exposure,The Mirror reports.
None of the remaining passengers or crew members still aboard the vessel are currently displaying any symptoms, Netherlands-based cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed on Thursday.
In Argentina, a team of investigators had yet to set off for the southern town where officials from the country's Health Ministry told the Associated Press they believe the outbreak first began. Argentine investigators suspect that a Dutch couple may have contracted the virus during a birdwatching trip before boarding the cruise ship.
On April 24, nearly a fortnight after the first passenger had died on board, more than two dozen people from at least 12 different countries disembarked the vessel without any contact tracing having taken place, according to the ship's operator and Dutch officials on Thursday.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed that the risk to the general public remains low. Hantavirus is typically contracted through breathing in contaminated rodent droppings and does not spread easily between humans.
"We believe this will be a limited outbreak if the public health measures are implemented and solidarity is shown across all countries," said Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, the WHO's alert and response director, on Thursday.
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Three people, amongst them the ship's doctor, were airlifted on Wednesday while the vessel was anchored near the West African island nation of Cape Verde, and transferred to specialist hospitals across Europe for treatment.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
