A small number of people in Scotland may have been exposed to hantavirus following a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde, according to Public Health Scotland (PHS).
The rare virus strain broke out on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, which departed from Ushuaia, Southern Argentina, approximately three weeks ago carrying around 150 tourists from various countries. So far, 11 hantavirus cases have been reported amongst passengers on the cruise, including three deaths. Nine of the cases are confirmed, with two more probable cases.
The outbreak has been linked to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina which two passengers attended before boarding the ship. A 70-year-old male started showing signs of hantavirus whilst on board and died after arriving in St Helena Island, whilst his 69-year-old wife also became ill and later died in a South African hospital.
PHS and NHS boards in Scotland are working to follow up with a “small number of individuals” who may have had contact with cases. They will remain in close contact with these people for up to 45 days from the last potential exposure. There are currently no known cases of hantavirus in Scotland, and the risk to the general public is very low, PHS confirmed.
A spokesperson for Public Health Scotland confirmed the agency is working alongside public health agencies in Wales and Northern Ireland to support UKHSA to respond to the incident and manage any risks. These include “well-established protocols” around contact tracing and isolation measures “where necessary”, the spokesperson said.
In Case You Missed it:
Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, warned: “Even if we don’t see cases right away in Scotland or in Britain, as we’ve learned cases anywhere in the world can spread quickly once it mutates to a form that allows human-to-human transmission”.
Ten Britons from the South Atlantic islands connected to the cruise ship are to be brought to the UK to complete their self-isolation as a precautionary measure, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. The group, thought to be residents of the UK overseas territories of St Helena and Ascension, will be monitored closely. There were 19 British nationals listed as passengers on the ship, along with four British crew members.
Human hantavirus infection is primarily acquired through contact with the urine, faeces, or saliva of infected rodents and is a rare but severe disease that can be deadly.
