British Columbia health officials say one of four Canadians isolating after exposure to a rare strain of hantavirus aboard an Antarctic cruise ship has tested positive.
In an update Saturday morning, Dr. Bonnie Henry spoke about Canadians isolating in B.C. following their return from the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Henry said that a Yukon resident was isolating in B.C. when they developed mild symptoms, including a fever and headache, two days ago. They and their partner were transferred to hospital in Victoria for assessment and testing.
“Late last evening, the BC CDC public health lab reported that the test on the individual who had these mild symptoms was positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus,” Henry said. “This is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for.”
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The positive result is considered presumptive pending confirmatory testing from Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, she said.
The second Yukon traveller tested negative, though they remain in hospital under monitoring and infection-control precautions. A third individual has also been transferred to hospital out of “an abundance of caution,” while the fourth traveller continues isolating at home.
The update comes after the World Health Organization identified the Andes strain of in passengers aboard the ship. Unlike most forms of hantavirus, the Andes strain can spread from person to person.
The WHO has said the overall public risk remains low.
“In the meantime, everyone in BC should feel reassured that the systems and protocols we have in place are working,” said Cromby.
She added that Island Health teams have spent the past week preparing for the travellers’ arrival and ensuring hospital staff were trained and ready.
Canada’s chief public health officer, Joss Reimer, said earlier this week that 26 people across Canada are being monitored by public health authorities for symptoms after sharing flights with a confirmed hantavirus case.
Reimer said those passengers are not considered close contacts because of where they were seated on the flights.
There are a total of nine travellers in Canada, in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, have been classified as high-risk exposure cases and instructed to self-isolate.
Henry previously warned the four travellers isolating in B.C were entering a “very critical phase of the incubation period.”
More to come…
–with files from The Canadian Press
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