The South African Department of Health has confirmed that a British man is being treated in a Johannesburg hospital after contracting hantavirus aboard a ship, which killed three other passengers.
Image: PEXELS
THE Department of Health has confirmed the deaths of two passengers linked to an international cruise ship after cases of severe acute respiratory infection were reported aboard the vessel. A third patient is in hospital in South Africa.
In a statement on Monday, the department said it had been informed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases about the medical condition of passengers on the MV Hondius, which was travelling from southern Argentina to the Canary Islands via Cape Verde.
The ship, carrying about 150 tourists from various countries, departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina about three weeks ago. Its route included mainland Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena and Ascension.
The first patient was a 70-year-old man who became ill while the ship was travelling from Ushuaia to St Helena. He presented with fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. He died on arrival at St Helena. His remains are being kept there pending repatriation to the Netherlands.
The second patient, a 69-year-old woman and spouse of the first patient, collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport while trying to catch a connecting flight to the Netherlands. She was taken to a health facility in Kempton Park, where she later died. Laboratory test results are still outstanding.
A third patient, a British national, became ill while the ship was travelling from St Helena to Ascension Island. After treatment on Ascension failed to improve his condition, he was medically evacuated to a private hospital in Sandton.
His laboratory test results came back positive for hantavirus, a rare but potentially deadly virus transmitted mainly by rodents. He remains in critical condition in isolation and is receiving medical treatment.
The department said it is working with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the Gauteng Department of Health to conduct contact tracing and monitor people who may have been exposed.
Health authorities said there was no need for public panic, noting that only two patients from the cruise ship had been within South Africa’s borders.
The World Health Organization is coordinating a multi-country response involving affected islands and countries to contain any further spread of the disease.