Hantavirus outbreak grows to 11 as French woman becomes critically ill
The hantavirus outbreak linked the MV Hondius cruise ship has now grown to 11 reported cases, with nine confirmed, so far. All the passengers and most of the crew are now off the ship and it is headed back to the Netherlands for cleaning and disinfection.
The ship, now carrying only 25 crew members, a doctor and a nurse, is expected to arrive in the Netherlands by Sunday.
Spanish passenger quarantined in Madrid, French traveler in critical condition
The latest person confirmed to be infected is a Spanish passenger who is in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid, according to Spain’s health ministry.
The new case comes as a French woman who was diagnosed earlier this week is now in critical condition.
Doctors in Paris said they are treating a woman for a severe form of the virus that has caused life-threatening lung and heart problems. They’re using an artificial lung, which they call “the final stage of supportive care,” to relieve pressure on her heart and lungs, in hopes of giving them time to recover.
Three people have died from the cruise ship outbreak, so far, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first to be exposed to the virus during a visit to South America. The World Health Organization (WHO) said they spent several months in Argentina and neighboring South American countries before boarding the cruise ship.
Argentina’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that it has assembled a team of scientists to investigate the origin of the country’s outbreak. The team plans to conduct research at some of the places the Dutch couple visited during a bird-watching tour.
Officials said the team will leave for the country’s southernmost city, Ushuaia, at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
Dutch hospital workers quarantined
A Dutch hospital has quarantined 12 staff members after blood and urine samples from a hantavirus patient were improperly handled. They will be quarantined for six weeks as a precaution, even though officials say the risk of infection is very low.
“What happened … is that strict procedures were followed, but not the very strictest procedures that apply in cases involving this hantavirus,” Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans told parliament. “The likelihood that staff have been infected as a result is small, but because we know we are dealing with a serious virus.”
More cases could arise
The WHO said all cases so far are limited to passengers and crew, but warned that more could emerge since the virus has an incubation period of up to six weeks.
“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “But of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.”
Possible unrelated case in Illinois
U.S. health officials are tracking a possible new case of hantavirus in Illinois, but it is not connected to the cruise ship outbreak. The patient is believed to have contracted a North American strain while cleaning a home that had rodent droppings, according to state health officials.
“The resident lives in Winnebago County, has not travelled internationally, and has not come in contact with individuals associated with the MV Hondius outbreak,” the Illinois Department of Health said in a statement.
They said the person had mild symptoms and did not require hospitalization. The Illinois Department of Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm if it is a hantavirus case.
North American strains of hantavirus are not known to spread from person-to-person, unlike the strain linked to the cruise ship outbreak.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
