A Canadian passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which is facing a hantavirus outbreak, showed mild symptoms of the disease, health authorities reported on Saturday. The patient, one of four Canadians who were on board and were isolated in the province of British Columbia, is hospitalized in Victoria, western Canada, with fever and headache, in stable condition and in isolation.
British Columbia's health director, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said the positive result is still preliminary and needs to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg in the coming days. “It's not what we expected, but it's what we had predicted,” she said, adding that hantavirus does not have pandemic potential comparable to respiratory viruses such as COVID-19, influenza, or measles.
In addition to the patient, two other passengers were hospitalized as a precaution, and a fourth is in quarantine in a private home. The four were transferred to British Columbia after the cruise ship docked in the Canary Islands, Spain. According to authorities, they have had no contact with the public since arriving at Victoria's airport, and health workers used protective equipment.
Canada is monitoring a total of 36 people directly or indirectly linked to the MV Hondius outbreak. Besides the four evacuated a week ago after the ship arrived in Tenerife, two other people who left the cruise before the outbreak was declared are in quarantine. The rest are people who shared flights with known cases and have a very low risk of developing the disease.
Hantavirus is usually transmitted by inhaling particles contaminated by rodent droppings, but the Andes strain, which is believed to have affected the MV Hondius, can be transmitted between people in rare cases.