B.C. couple in hospital isolation after testing positive for hantavirus

The B.C. Provincial Health Office is reporting that one of four high risk individuals who was on the cruise ship M.V. Hondius and self-isolating on Vancouver Island has tested presumptive positive for the Andes hantavirus.

The person was transported to hospital for assessment and care on May 14, according to a statement released by the Public Health Agency of Canada released on Saturday. The person’s spouse also has mild symptoms and was taken to hospital.

“Both will remain in isolation in hospital,” says the statement. Meanwhile, a third person who was isolating has been transferred to hospital for assessment.

PHAC says samples to be tested have arrived at its National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, with results expected in the next two days.

“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,” states PHAC, but adds that it is taking a “precautionary approach.”

B.C. Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry echoed this sentiment on Saturday, stating that “for most of us (in B.C.) the situation has not changed. We’ve had infection control precautions in place from the moment these people arrived in British Columbia and I’m confident there’s no additional risk to anybody else outside of the people who’ve been caring for these individuals.”

Earlier this week, National Post reported on the four Canadians who were aboard the infected cruise ship and arrived in B.C. last Sunday, when they began a minimum 21-day isolation period. At that point, Dr. Henry said the isolation period might be extended as long as the full 42 days, depending on whether people develop symptoms and what’s happening globally.

All four will be followed daily for the full 42 days, in or out of self-isolation, Henry said.

Matthew Miller, a Canada Research Chair in viral pandemics at McMaster University told National Post on Tuesday that the statement put out by British Columbia is “reassuring (in that) they are saying a minimum of 21 days, which I think leaves the door open to extending that as more information becomes available.”

He added that the “data to date suggest the Andes virus requires sustained close contact, and not just close, like adjacent room. Close, physical contact. There have (historically) been relatively few human cases of this virus and even fewer where the evidence has been for human-to-human transmission, rather than rodent-to-human transmission.”

National Post reported on Thursday that PHAC said there were 26 more Canadians on a flight with a confirmed case of hantavirus who were being contacted. But, PHAC considered them “low or minimal risk” because of where they were seated.

PHAC said nine people in Canada were considered to be high-risk and told to self-isolate.

Almost 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries were stranded on the M.V. Hondius for weeks following the outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus. As of mid-week, a total of 11 cases, including three deaths, were reported — eight lab-confirmed for the Andes virus, two probable and one inclusive that’s undergoing more testing.

And while the outbreak associated with the MV Hondius cruise ship is evolving, acknowledged Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Joss Reimer, she contended that the risk to the general population in Canada remains low and “further spread of the virus within Canada is not expected.”

• 26 more people in Canada being contacted after 'low risk' exposure to confirmed hantavirus case
• How long should hantavirus cruise ship passengers self-isolate? And why does B.C. recommend less time than WHO?

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