A Spanish passenger is sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish government officials before boarding a plane after disembarking from the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at Tenerife Airport in the Canary Islands (Image source: AP)
An American passenger evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship has tested positive for the virus, U.S. health officials confirmed on Sunday, with an update that he has not shown any symptoms yet.As this virus spread, many countries rushed to quarantine and monitor passengers returning from the ship.The infected American, among 17 US citizens evacuated from the ship, is asymptomatic and will be transferred to a biocontainment unit in Nebraska upon arrival in Omaha. Other passengers will also undergo assessment and monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit for precautionary purposes.This development came hours after French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that one of the five French passengers also developed symptoms during the flight and returned the flight to Paris. All five passengers were immediately subjected to strict isolation testing.On Sunday, the MV Hondius-hantavirus cruise ship arrived in Tenerife, Spain, on the Canary Islands after a deadly hantavirus outbreak linked to the ship killed three people and infected at least five other passengers.
More than 140 passengers from more than 20 countries were present during the emergency evacuation.The World Health Organization confirmed that the outbreak does not pose a major threat to the public.“This is not another Covid virus,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said. “The risks to the public are low. People should not panic.”Health experts say that the Hanta virus is spread mainly through exposure to contaminated rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between humans.
But in rare cases, the Andean strain (a specific type of hantavirus found mainly in South America) detected in this outbreak can spread between people. Symptoms can appear anywhere between one and eight weeks after exposure.Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist at the World Health Organization, said countries receiving passengers were advised to carry out active daily health surveillance and quarantine measures. Many countries have already imposed strict isolation protocols for up to six weeks
