The number of Hantavirus cases has increased to eight after the outbreak was first reported aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean early this week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday.
As global health authorities race to trace contacts and contain further spread of the rare Andes strain of the virus, three people have succumbed to the virus infection.
The eight cases of infection include three laboratory-confirmed infections. The ship on which the outbreak was reported, sailed from Argentina and later reached waters off West Africa.
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Here is a timeline of the Hantavirus outbreak:
- April 1: MV Hondius cruise ship departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1, AP reported, citing Argentine provincial authorities. No passengers had hantavirus symptoms when the Hondius departed, according to health officials. But because symptoms can appear up to eight weeks after exposure, “the passengers could have been incubating the disease if they acquired it within the country or elsewhere in the world,” Juan Facundo Petrina, director of epidemiology for Tierra del Fuego province, was quoted as saying.
- April 11: One of the first cases onboard the cruise vessel was 70-year-old Dutch man. He died on April 11. His wife, 69, later died later in South Africa after leaving the ship, officials said. Her blood later tested positive for the virus, making two confirmed cases, South Africa’s health minister said.
- April 27: A British man was evacuated to South Africa after he was reported sick. Tests confirmed hantavirus infection. He is in critical condition and isolated in intensive care, health officials said.
- May 4: The WHO issued first statement on the Hantavirus outbreak saying it was “supporting” a public health event following the virus outbreak on the vessel in the Atlantic Ocean. “Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing,” WHO said.
- May 6: Three patients with suspected hantavirus infections were being evacuated from a cruise ship to the Netherlands on Wednesday, the UN health agency said. Contact tracing has begun in Europe and Africa, in search of infections around people who earlier left the ship.
The first symptoms
The Dutch man who is said to be the first reported case of Hantavirus showed symptoms of fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. His body was taken off the vessel nearly two weeks later on the British territory of Saint Helena, some 1,200 miles (1,900 km) off the African coast and was awaiting repatriation.
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The vessel at the centre of a deadly outbreak remained off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands.
Associated Press reported that health workers in protective gear on Wednesday were heading to the ship for the evacuation that included the ship’s British doctor, who Spain’s health ministry said had been in “serious condition” but has improved. An air ambulance later departed.
