A member of the MV Hondius cruise ship crew who disembarked in Spain’s Canary Islands and was repatriated to the Netherlands was confirmed Friday as a new hantavirus case, the WHO said.
“Today, the Netherlands confirmed an additional case among a crew member who disembarked in Tenerife, was repatriated to the Netherlands and has been isolating since then,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday.
He said this meant there were now 12 suspected and confirmed cases in total, including three deaths.
Tedros reiterated that no deaths had been reported since May 2, when the outbreak was first reported to the WHO.
“We continue to urge affected countries to monitor all passengers and crew carefully for the remainder of the quarantine period,” he told a press conference.
“More than 600 contacts continue to be followed in 30 countries, and a small number of high-risk contacts are still being located.”
Meanwhile Dutch authorities said the crew member had been taken to hospital.
“The Andes virus has been detected in one person who was in quarantine in the Netherlands. The patient has since been admitted to the hospital as a precaution and is in isolation,” said the RIVM (Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment).
The Andes species is the only strain of hantavirus known to be able to jump from human-to-human.
Everyone evacuated from the Dutch-flagged ship to the Netherlands is tested every week. The positive test was confirmed by two separate laboratories, the RIVM said.
Source: Insider Paper
