Dutch confirm Hantavirus in cruise ship evacuee in Nijmegen

Hantavirus has been confirmed in one of the two patients now being cared for in Dutch hospitals since they were evacuated from the cruise ship Hondius overnight, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to five.

The patient is being looked after at the Radboudumc teaching hospital in Nijmegen, which confirmed the diagnosis in a statement. “Measures have been taken to prevent the disease from spreading in the ward where the patient is,” the statement said.

Other patients are not at risk and no extra measures are needed for visitors to the hospital, the statement said.

Five cases of hantavirus have now been confirmed among people who were on the cruise ship, and three others have been possibly infected. A KLM stewardess, who came into contact with one of the victims, is also undergoing tests to see if she too has the virus.

The World Health Organisation said that while the outbreak is serious, it does not consider there is a major risk to public health. None of the remaining passengers or crew currently aboard the MV Hondius are symptomatic, WHO chief Tedros  Ghebreyesus said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, RTL reports that 60 people who were on board the KLM flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam have been identified. They may have come into contact with the 69-year-old woman who was removed from the flight because she was too ill to travel. She has since died.

A spokeswoman for Kennemerland regional health board said fewer than 10 people on the flight had intensive contact with the woman, and they are all people who had helped her because she was unwell.

“They will now be actively tracked… experts are currently discussing what measures are appropriate,” the spokeswoman said. The 50 others were seated close to the woman and will be subject to passive monitoring.

The stewardess who has since developed mild symptoms was taken to Amsterdam’s UMC hospital on Wednesday evening.

A third patient in the Netherlands is being treated at Leiden University hospital.

The MV Hondius cruise ship is on its way to Spain, where it is due to arrive on Saturday. Two Dutch doctors and a WHO expert are now on board the ship, which is heading for the Canary Islands.