Canadians isolating after hantavirus outbreak on expedition; “low” risk to public: WHO

Two Canadians who left a Dutch expedition ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak have returned home and are now isolating while being monitored by local public health officials, according to federal ministers.

In a joint statement released Thursday (May 7), Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said a third individual — who was not aboard the ship but had contact with a symptomatic passenger during a flight home — is also being monitored under similar precautions.

“This individual is not considered a high-risk close contact by the World Health Organization,” the statement said.

The ministers said all three people remain symptom-free and are currently in Ontario and Quebec.

READ MORE: Rare virus outbreak on Dutch expedition ship leaves three dead

At a Thursday news conference, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones confirmed that two cruise passengers had returned to Ontario.

“We are getting regular updates on not only these two individuals but preparing to see if there are any other individuals who could perhaps return to Canada and Ontario,” she said, as reported by the Globe and Mail.

Minister Jones noted the monitoring and incubation period is expected to last around 30 days.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that the overall risk to the public remains “low,”despite the fact that the Andean strain of hantavirus detected among several passengers can, in rare circumstances, spread from person to person.

The WHO is preparing detailed guidance ahead of the arrival of the MV Hondius in Spain’s Canary Islands, expected early Sunday (May 10), when dozens of passengers are set to leave the ship and travel home.

None of the remaining passengers, including four Canadians, are showing symptoms at this time, reports say

“This is not coronavirus”

The outbreak aboard the Hondius has resulted in three deaths: a Dutch couple and a German passenger.

According to the WHO, five additional people are believed to have contracted the virus.

“This is not coronavirus, this is a ⁠very different virus," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO ⁠director of epidemic and pandemic management, told a news conference. "This is not the same situation we were in six years ago."

Hantavirus is most commonly transmitted through exposure to rodents or their urine, saliva, or droppings, especially when contaminated material becomes airborne and is inhaled.

Although uncommon, the Andean variant involved in this outbreak has previously been shown to spread between humans.

Symptoms can include extreme fatigue, fever, muscle aches, headaches, and nausea, and may worsen into breathing difficulties.

The strain can also cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a potentially fatal lung condition.

WHO officials emphasized that the outbreak is highly unusual — marking the first recorded hantavirus cluster associated with a cruise ship — and said residents of Tenerife should not be concerned because strict disembarkation procedures will be in place.

Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions said Thursday that 30 passengers left the Hondius in St. Helena after the vessel stopped there en route to Cape Verde on April 24, before the outbreak became public.

The MV Hondius is a 107.6-metre polar expedition cruise ship designed to carry up to 170 passengers in 80 cabins.

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