Hantavirus caupdate: 2 confirmed in UK, 3rd Briton suspected — How are different countries tackling the disease

The hantavirus outbreak has sent shivers across the world after three passengers from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship died because of the disease. On Friday, Britain's health security agency, in an update, said that an additional suspected case of hantavirus had been identified, Reuters reported. While the suspected case involves a British national on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, the UK Health Security Agency confirmed two cases of hantavirus among other British nationals.

‘This is not Covid, this is not influenza’

At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the luxury cruise ship, which left from Argentina's Ushuaia on 1 April, according to the BBC. Downplaying the hantavirus linked recent deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said that the new viral contagion is not a public health risk and is not similar to the COVID pandemic.

In a press briefing on 7 May, WHO director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, Maria Van Kerkhove said, “This is not Covid, this is not influenza,” adding “This is an outbreak on a ship. We know this virus. This is not the same situation we were in six years ago.” As per Bloomberg report, six people have contracted the virus in addition to 3 deceased passengers, and another 2 cases are suspected.

Currently, the cruise ship is sailing toward the Canary Islands after evacuating three people in Cape Verde on Wednesday. It is scheduled to arrive at its last stop, Tenerife, on Sunday, where all the passengers will disembark and travel home. It is important to note that none of these passengers currently have any symptoms, the Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions cruise ship company said on Thursday.

According to Spain’s public health director general Pedro Gullón, the vessel will anchor offshore rather than dock in port. “Once we know what we are dealing with, if there are no new cases or symptomatic people on board, the process of returning people to their places of origin will begin," he said.

The WHO issued notifications to 12 countries whose citizens were onboard MV Hondius and disembarked at Saint Helena. The list includes the UK, the United States, Canada, Germany, and Singapore, among others.

The British passengers will be isolated for 45 days upon their return to the UK and will be closely monitored and tested, AFP reported. WHO confirmed that Argentina has decided to distribute 2,500 diagnostic kits to laboratories across five different nations.

In the Americas, the hantavirus infection causes hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), which impacts the lungs and heart. In Europe and Asia, it is known to cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome due to its effect on the kidneys and blood vessels. The strain of virus found on the cruise ship was confirmed as the Andes virus, a type of hantavirus found in South America, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa and the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) in Switzerland.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “In previous outbreaks of Andes virus, transmission between people has been associated with close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners and people providing medical care.”

How does one catch hantavirus?

Hantavirus is a zoonotic virus that spreads through contact with infected rodent droppings, urine or saliva. This disease can rarely be transmitted through person-to-person contact, but it is possible to contract the infection by inhaling virus-laden dust particles, skin contact with contaminated surfaces, ingesting contaminated food, or being bitten by infected rodents.

Hantavirus incubation period

The incubation period for hantavirus is typically 1 to 8 weeks as symptoms can take weeks to appear but severe cases can progress rapidly and lead to respiratory failure.

Timeline of hantavirus outbreak

The first case of hantavirus surfaced on 6 April when a man who developed symptoms and died on the ship 5 days later. “No samples were taken, and because his symptoms were similar to those of other respiratory diseases, hantavirus was not suspected,” WHO said. His 69-year-old wife, who was the second reported death case, left the ship in Saint Helena, an island in the South Atlantic. She boarded a flight to Johannesburg on 25 April, during which her health deteriorated, and she died the next day.

“Samples were taken, which were tested at South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases and confirmed as hantavirus,” WHO Director-General said. The third reported hantavirus death occurred on 2 May when woman succumbed to the infection a week after her symptoms first appeared.

Warning against more hantavirus cases WHO Director-General said, “Given the incubation period of the hantavirus, which can be up to six weeks, it is possible that more cases may be reported.”