Hantavirus update: Flight attendant hospitalized after cruise ship outbreak sparks panic; details

Despite the alarm, the World Health Organization moved quickly to calm public fears. “This is not the coronavirus, this is not the flu,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s chief of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, told a news conference in Geneva. “The way it spreads is very, very different.” She added firmly, “This is not the beginning of an epidemic, this is not the beginning of a pandemic.” new york times

The exposure is believed to be linked to a 69-year-old Dutch woman, one of three cruise passengers who died, who boarded KLM flight 592 from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on April 25, the day before her death in South Africa.

She remained on the plane for about an hour before airline staff removed her due to her rapidly deteriorating health. “No one on board thought they were dealing with a contagious virus,” Barbara de Beukelaar, a passenger on the flight, said, according to the New York Times.

Authorities have not confirmed whether the flight attendant had symptoms or whether she worked on a flight that she briefly boarded the day before a cruise ship outbreak victim died.

Also read: MV Hondius Hantavirus outbreak: How many Americans were on board? Latest updates

In addition, authorities have confirmed that none of the American passengers who were monitored at the time developed symptoms.

Also read: ‘We’re not just…’: Man trapped on MV Hondius breaks down after hantavirus outbreak

The search became more urgent after reports that about 40 passengers left the ship on April 24 without contact tracing or health checks. Mirror. This comes nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board. Oceanwide Expeditions, the company that operates the cruise, first said 29 passengers had disembarked, while the Dutch Foreign Ministry estimated the number was closer to 40.

Passengers from at least 12 different countries disembarked on St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic. A man in Switzerland has reportedly tested positive for hantavirus after disembarking in St Helena and flying home. new york times. His exact whereabouts after leaving the ship remain unclear, complicating contact tracing.

Furthermore, the ship originally departed from Argentina, which the World Health Organization consistently ranks as the country with the highest incidence of rare rodent-borne diseases in Latin America. Officials and experts in Argentina are now reportedly scrambling to determine whether the country is the source of the outbreak. Mirror.

The MV Hondius is currently en route to the Canary Islands but will not dock there. Passengers will transfer to a boat to Tenerife for flights back to their home country. The ship is expected to arrive on Sunday.