PRAIA, Cape Verde (AP) 鈥� Three cruise ship passengers with suspected infections being flown to the Netherlands for treatment Wednesday. , and the World Health Organization says there are eight cases.
About 150 passengers are isolating aboard the Dutch ship at the center of the outbreak. The MV Hondius is near the Cape Verde islands off West Africa, waiting to sail to Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands. Officials say those on board show no symptoms.
Hantavirus is that usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings. The Argentine government鈥檚 leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus during a bird-watching outing at a garbage dump before boarding, according to two officials.
The WHO says the risk to the global population from this outbreak is low, with the organization鈥檚 top epidemic expert telling AP, 鈥淭his is not the next COVID.鈥�
Here鈥檚 the latest:
Health officials are tracking down dozens of people in South Africa who might鈥檝e been near infected passengers
Two passengers left the cruise ship in South Africa. One has died and the other remains hospitalized.
Health officials in that country have identified 62 people 鈥� airplane passengers, airport workers, health workers, hospital cleaners, port of entry officials 鈥� who likely had contact with those two patients.
So far, officials have tracked down 42 of them, and none tested positive for hantavirus. However, some of the 20 people still being traced may have now traveled overseas, the health ministry said in a report.
Evacuation plane will stop to refuel in the Canary Islands
A plane evacuating two of the patients with suspected hantavirus infections from the cruise ship off Cape Verde is stopping at an airport in the Canary Islands to refuel, the Spanish health ministry said.
A flight tracker showed the small plane circling near the island of Gran Canaria where it is expected to make its short stop before continuing on to the Netherlands.
WHO confirms it鈥檚 the Andes variant of the hantavirus
Samples taken earlier from the patients now evacuated from the ship were examined and also confirmed to be the Andes strain, the World Health Organization said at a briefing Wednesday.
The WHO says this strain of hantavirus is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile, and can spread between people, though that鈥檚 rare and only through close contact.
The cruise ship will be leaving in around two hours and has gotten medical reinforcement after its doctor got sick and was evacuated, Ann Lindstrand, WHO representative in Cape Verde, said at the briefing.
鈥淥ne medical doctor from WHO … will be taking care of patients if there will be more cases on board,鈥� Lindstrand said.
鈥楾his is not the next Covid鈥�
The World Health Organization鈥檚 top epidemic expert told the AP that the risk to the public is low, and the Andes variant of the hantavirus is known 鈥� even if the WHO has never seen a hantavirus outbreak on a ship.
鈥淭his is not the next Covid, but it is a serious infectious disease,鈥� Maria Van Kerkhove said. 鈥淢ost people will never be exposed to this.鈥�
For those on the ship, access to clinical care is important, she said, because infected people can develop severe acute respiratory distress and need oxygen or mechanical ventilation. The hantavirus incubation period can be one to six weeks, or more, she added.
Investigators say a couple on cruise ship possibly got hantavirus while bird-watching in Argentina
Two Argentine officials investigating the origins of the hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship that sailed from southern Argentina say the government鈥檚 leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus during a bird-watching outing in the city of Ushuaia before boarding.
They said the couple visited a landfill during the bird-watching tour where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, with the investigation ongoing. Previously authorities said that Ushuaia and the surrounding province of Tierra del Fuego had never recorded a case of the hantavirus.
鈥� By Isabel DeBre
Hondius cruise company confirms 3 patients have left the ship
Oceanwide Expeditions says they are being taken by specially equipped planes to 鈥渓ocations able to provide specialized care and appropriate medical screening.鈥�
A Dutch hospital has confirmed it will take one of the people, and German authorities say they are preparing to pick up a second from the Netherlands.
The Dutch company says two of the people medically evacuated 鈥渞emain in a serious condition.鈥� The third has no symptoms but was 鈥渃losely associated鈥� with a passenger who died May 2.
The company also says that it is 鈥渆xpanding medical care on board with two infectious disease physicians, arriving today by plane from the Netherlands.鈥�
A Dutch hospital is preparing to take one patient from Hondius
The Leiden University Medical Center says the department where the patient will be seen is well prepared.
In a statement posted on its website, the hospital said, 鈥淚n addition to isolation rooms for patients, all protective equipment for our staff is available. Treatment takes place in strict isolation, following the applicable protocols. The LUMC has specialized isolation facilities.”
It also seeks to reassure other visitors to the hospital, saying patients or visitors 鈥渞un no risk of infection. You do not need to take any special measures. You can continue to visit as usual.鈥�
D眉sseldorf University Clinic to test person who came in contact with a hantavirus case on board
In Germany, the D眉sseldorf University Clinic said that one of the three passengers who was evacuated from the ship and is being flown to the Netherlands, who was in contact with one of the hantavirus cases on board the ship, would be brought to the hospital for testing later Wednesday.
It said in a statement that the person would be brought to D眉sseldorf from an unspecified Dutch airport with the help of specialists from the city鈥檚 fire service.
The hospital stressed that the patient is asymptomatic and that the testing is a precaution.
Spanish officials say the remaining passengers and crew members are all without symptoms
The arrival of the boat 鈥渨on鈥檛 represent any risk for the public,鈥� Spanish Health Minister M贸nica Garc铆a said.
She said that the boat will arrive at a secondary port on the island of Tenerife, which is located 10 minutes from an airport. From there, the roughly 140 passengers will be repatriated to their home countries.
Garc铆a said that the operation to send the passengers and crew home will be overseen by the European Union鈥檚 civil protection program.
The 14 Spaniards who are on board will be flown by military plane to the mainland, where, if necessary, they will be kept in quarantine.
Canary Islands regional president warns of lack of protocol for receiving ship passengers
The regional president of Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said Wednesday that the Hondius had requested permission for the ship to dock on the island of Tenerife on May 9.
Clavijo, however, expressed his surprise that the passengers were being forced 鈥渢o travel for three days鈥� instead of flying to their homes from the airport in Praia.
He also complained that central authorities in Madrid had not informed him of the details of the circumstances on board the vessel, a situation that limited local health officials鈥� ability to prepare for its arrival.
鈥淲e still don鈥檛 know the status of all the passengers,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is no protocol for this.鈥�
Evacuation plans are still unclear
Oceanwide Expeditions said Tuesday evening that two specialized aircraft were flying to Cape Verde to evacuate two people who need urgent medical care and one person who was traveling with a German woman who died on board Saturday. They were to be taken to the Netherlands, though exactly when that would happen was not immediately clear.
Once the medical evacuation happens, the ship plans to sail to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, a voyage of some three days, the company said in its statement, adding that 鈥渄iscussions are ongoing with relevant authorities.鈥�
Spanish health officials had said in an earlier statement that they were monitoring and that 鈥渢he most appropriate port of call will be decided. Until then, the Ministry of Health will not adopt any decision, as we have informed the World Health Organization.鈥�
An altered journey
The World Health Organization has said the ship had an itinerary that included stops across the South Atlantic Ocean, including mainland Antarctica and the remote islands of South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena and Ascension.
The cruise company has only announced some details of two stops: at St. Helena, where the body of the Dutch man suspected to be the first hantavirus case on board was taken off the ship. His wife also left the ship at St. Helena and flew to South Africa, where she died.
The company said a British man was later evacuated from the ship at Ascension Island and taken to South Africa, where he is in an intensive care unit.
The company has not said if other people left the cruise ship at those or other locations.
The cruise ship is waiting to sail to Spain
will be welcomed to Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands, according to Spanish authorities, as the vessel waited off the coast of West Africa for a third day Wednesday for sick passengers to be evacuated.
The regional president of Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said Wednesday that he was worried the arrival of the ship could put the local population at risk and demanded an urgent meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S谩nchez.
鈥淣either the populace nor the government of the Canary Islands can rest assured because it is clear that the danger to the population is real,鈥� Clavijo told Onda Cero radio.
South African tests first confirm the Andes virus
South African health authorities said they identified the Andes strain of hantavirus in two passengers who were on the ship, and Swiss authorities said they identified the same virus in their affected patient.
The World Health Organization says the Andes virus, a specific species of hantavirus, is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile.
The Andes virus can be spread between people, though this is rare and the spread of the disease is typically contained because it would spread only through close contact, such as by sharing a bed or sharing food, experts say.
The South African Department of Health said its results came from tests performed on the passengers after they were removed from the ship and flown to South Africa.
One of the passengers, a British man, is in intensive care in a South African hospital. Tests were performed on the other passenger posthumously after she died in South Africa.
3 patients evacuated from cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak, new case confirmed in Switzerland
at the center of a deadly and which is stuck off the coast of Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board was waiting Wednesday to head to Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands. Meanwhile, health authorities in South Africa and Switzerland identified a strain of the virus that can be transmitted between humans in rare cases.
Three passengers have died and several others have been sickened by hantavirus on board the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship. Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings.
The ship left Argentina on April 1 on an Atlantic cruise and was scheduled to include stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other locations. However, the itinerary appears to have changed because of the situation on board.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said three patients with suspected hantavirus cases have been evacuated from the ship and are on their way to the Netherlands.
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