Canadian health authorities have reported that one of four Canadians under quarantine in British Columbia has tested positive for the hantavirus, following exposure on a cruise ship that experienced an outbreak.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer for British Columbia, announced at a press conference that the individual began showing mild symptoms, such as fever and headache, two days prior. Both the patient and their partner, who were together on the cruise, were moved to a Victoria hospital for evaluation and testing.
Test results received late Friday confirmed a “presumptive positive” for the individual with symptoms, Dr. Henry noted. However, she emphasized that these results are preliminary, with samples sent to the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg for further verification. Final confirmation of the test is anticipated over the weekend.
“While this development is not what we hoped for, it is something we anticipated and prepared for,” Dr. Henry stated.
She further assured that the patient remains in a stable condition, with mild symptoms, and is under isolation in the hospital where they are receiving necessary care and monitoring.
Meanwhile, the patient’s partner, who tested negative for the virus, will also stay in the hospital for continued observation and evaluation, Dr. Henry added.
Out of what Henry described as “an abundance of caution”, the third individual who had been isolating in the same lodging has also been transferred to hospital for monitoring. The fourth person continues to isolate at home under daily observation, she said.
The four Canadians who had been on board the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, where the hantavirus outbreak occurred, arrived in Victoria on 10 May, Henry said, adding that on arrival, all four of them were assessed and none of them had any symptoms.
They were transferred directly to lodgings to begin a period of quarantine for a minimum of 21 days.
Meanwhile, France’s Pasteur Institute said it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship and found that it matched viruses already known in South America, with no evidence so far of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.
Pasteur said genomic analysis confirmed that the virus found in the French passenger matched the virus detected in other cases aboard the ship and closely resembled known Andes virus samples circulating in South America.
Pasteur said the viruses detected in patients from the ship were identical to each other and about 97% similar to some Andes viruses circulating in South America, including those identified in rodents.
Jean-Claude Manuguerra, who heads Pasteur’s environment and infectious risk unit, said the remaining variation appeared to reflect natural viral variation and did not seem to affect the characteristics of the virus detected among travellers.
Since 11 April, three people who were on board the cruise ship have died of suspected hantavirus infections of hantavirus, including a Dutch couple and a German woman.
