During the morning of this Wednesday, May 6, the British television network BBCNews reported that a strain uncommon of hantaviruswhich can be transmitted between people who maintain close and prolonged contact, was detected in patients affected for a deadly outbreak aboard a cruise in the Atlantic.
The Ministry of Health of South Africa indicated that the andean strain hantavirus was detected in two people evacuated from the ship, who suffered from a serious, often fatal viral disease transmitted to humans mainly by mice field, through inhalation of particles of urine, feces or saliva.
It is for this reason that, so far, three cruise passengers MV Hondius they have dead since the ship left the city of Ushuaia, Argentinaless than a month ago, on a trip across the Atlantic Ocean bound for the Canary Islands, an archipelago Spanish of volcanic origin located near the northwest coast of Africa.
Also, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), three other people with hantavirus symptoms were evacuated this Wednesday, May 6, to receive medical attention in the Netherlandsmore than two thousand kilometers from the Canary Islands, so the general risk to public health remains “very low.”
hantavirus outbreak
Of the 147 people transported by the luxury cruise MV Hondiusthree have died during the journey as consequence hantavirus, while three others remain under clinical observation due to suspicion of contagion, even without official confirmation: a 56-year-old British man, a 41-year-old Dutch citizen and a 65-year-old German woman.
For their part, the Spanish authorities reported that all passengers will disembark at the La Candelaria Hospital, located in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerifethe next Friday May 8where they will presumably receive specialized medical care and control efforts will be intensified epidemiological in the Canary Islands.
Under the circumstances, the World Health Organization deployed a team of follow-up that works together with the operators of the cruise MV Hondius to monitor the health status of those still on board, as well as to track and contact all passengers who disembarked before the outbreak was declared.
Faced with this scenario, despite the fact that the WHO announced that the people who remain on board are under “strict precautionary measures”, the Tenerife authority expressed its rejection and requested a meeting with the Spanish president: “I cannot allow them to enter the island,” he added. Fernando Clavijopresident of the Government of Canary Islands.
Is hantavirus more dangerous than coronavirus?
In accordance with the National Epidemiology Center of the Carlos III Health Institute, the reference center in Spain for research and epidemiological surveillance in public health, mortality associated with hantavirus can be considerably highdepending on the type of infection that each patient develops.
cardiopulmonary syndrome hantavirus reaches mortality rates of 40%while infection by coronavirus has a lethality of 2%according to the National Epidemiology Center of the Carlos III Health Institute, so the new andean strain detected on the cruise MV Hondius is considered deadlier and more dangerous.