Top News

Ottawa, May 18 (IANS) The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has confirmed a case of hantavirus in a cruise passenger currently isolating in British Columbia following laboratory testing.

PHAC said in a statement on Sunday that samples from British Columbia were sent to the agency's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg for confirmatory testing.

According to the agency, one individual's sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus on Saturday. A second individual, a travelling partner of the confirmed case, was confirmed negative, Xinhua news agency reported.

No additional cases have been identified so far. PHAC said all high-risk contacts are isolating and will continue to be closely monitored by local public health authorities, adding that the overall risk to the general population in Canada remains low at this time.

The outbreak occurred aboard the polar expedition cruise ship MV Hondius and has resulted in three deaths so far. The incubation period for hantavirus generally ranges from one to eight weeks.

Earlier, health authorities in Canada's British Columbia province announced that a Canadian cruise passenger currently in isolation has tested presumptive positive for hantavirus

Bonnie Henry, a provincial health officer, said the patient began developing mild symptoms, including fever and headache, two days ago and was taken to a local hospital. The presumptive positive result came back on Friday and the person is currently being treated in isolation as a positive patient.

Meanwhile, the Dutch government announced earlier that the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius is expected to arrive at the Port of Rotterdam next Monday, with most crew members set to undergo a six-week quarantine in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

"Rotterdam has been designated in the Netherlands as the port for the handling of infectious diseases in shipping," according to a letter sent to parliament on Friday (local time) and signed by Sophie Hermans, Dutch minister of health, welfare and sport, and Tom Berendsen, the country's foreign minister.

According to Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch operator of the vessel, there are currently 27 people on board, including 25 crew members and two medical personnel. The group consists of 17 Filipinos, four Dutch nationals, four Ukrainians, one Russian, and one Polish national.

--IANS

int/rs