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'Oh, gosh': Inside the race to test for cruise ship hantavirus
Tests confirmed the rare Andes species, which can spread between humans, after passengers and crew developed severe illness and deaths prompted contact tracing.
- South African and Swiss governments confirmed on Wednesday that patients in Johannesburg and Zurich have the Andes species of hantavirus, marking the first documented outbreak on a ship.
- Infectious disease specialist Lucille Blumberg began investigating after receiving an email on Friday about a patient evacuated from Ascension Island, as ship passengers had traveled to Argentina and Chile where the virus is endemic.
- Blumberg requested a hantavirus test on Saturday; the Andes species is the only type known to spread between humans, which she described as "unusual" and requiring close contact.
- The World Health Organization reports five suspected cases and two deaths, including a Dutch man who died on the MV Hondius, though the WHO emphasizes public risk remains low.
- Manuel Schibler of Geneva University Hospitals stated the next step is to sequence the viral genome to "establish a link with the geographic location of the first person infected by this virus.
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Total News Sources14
Leaning Left1Leaning Right2Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Center
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
57% Center
14%
C 57%
R 29%
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