Toronto: Canadian health authorities have confirmed the first case of the Andes hantavirus in the country.
That confirmation came on Sunday from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which said the person afflicted was a passenger aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius and the case was reported on Saturday by the British Columbia Provincial Health Officer.
PHAC said samples from British Columbia were sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg for confirmatory testing. One person’s sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus on May 16, and a second individual who was a travelling partner of the positive case came out negative. “There have been no further cases identified at this time. All high-risk contacts are isolating and will continue to be monitored closely by local public health,” the agency said in a release.
However, it added the “overall risk to the general population in Canada from the Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship remains low at this time”. All confirmed cases to date have been passengers or crew on the cruise ship. “Given the severity of this virus, we are taking a precautionary approach to ensure Canadians are protected,” it noted.
PHAC has provided the information about the positive case to the World Health Organization as part of the International Health Regulations and will share information to support the ongoing global investigation of the outbreak.
It also said it will “continue to actively monitor the situation”.
“We want to thank public health authorities and frontline staff in British Columbia for the dedicated care that they are providing and for their ongoing management of the situation, and the passengers for their cooperation with public health direction to help keep others safe,” Dr Joss Reimer, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, said.
The outbreak on the ship led to 12 cases of infection globally. Three of the patients have succumbed to the virus.
The agency Canadian Press reported there were 26 people being monitored as low risk in the country. Nine others were considered high risk and were told to isolate and were being monitored. That group includes residents of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
