The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has verified a hantavirus case in a cruise passenger isolating in British Columbia. Samples from British Columbia were sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg for testing, with one sample testing positive for hantavirus. The traveling partner of the confirmed case tested negative.
No additional cases have been reported, and high-risk contacts are isolating under close monitoring. The outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship has led to three deaths, with an incubation period for hantavirus ranging from one to eight weeks. Health authorities in British Columbia announced a presumptive positive case of hantavirus in a Canadian cruise passenger currently in isolation.
The Dutch government revealed that the MV Hondius cruise ship will dock at the Port of Rotterdam, where most crew members will undergo a six-week quarantine. Rotterdam has been designated as the port for handling infectious diseases in shipping. Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch operator of the vessel, disclosed that there are 27 people on board, including crew members from various nationalities.
