One Canadian tests positive for hantavirus, officials say
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Passengers of the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, board a EuroAtlantic Airways aircraft bound for Canada at Tenerife Sud airport.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TORONTO - The government of British Columbia said on May 16 that one Canadian has tested positive for hantavirus after leaving a luxury cruise ship hit by an outbreak of the Andes strain of the virus.
The individual, who was tested at a hospital in Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, after developing mild symptoms, is one of four Canadians isolating on the island after leaving the MV Hondius, a cruise ship that departed Argentina on a polar expedition on April 1.
The group comprised two couples – one from Yukon and another from British Columbia. The individual who tested positive is from Yukon, officials said.
The Yukon couple is being tested in British Columbia because that service is unavailable in the northern territory, said British Columbia provincial health officer Bonnie Henry.
She said the four people had not come in contact with the public when they were transferred from their flight to Victoria. The person who tested positive is in stable condition, she said.
The Andes strain of hantavirus, identified in the outbreak on the cruise ship, can cause severe lung illness that can be fatal in up to 50 per cent of cases, according to the World Health Organization.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that are usually spread by rodents, but in rare cases can be transmitted person to person. The health authorities have said the risk of the virus spreading is low. REUTERS
