The World Health Organization (WHO) is tracing passengers and contacts after a cruise ship traveller who later died of hantavirus disembarks in Saint Helena. The person took an Airlink flight from St Helena to Johannesburg after leaving the MV Hondius cruise ship, where a suspected hantavirus outbreak has been reported. According to WHO and airline information cited by multiple outlets, the flight on April 25 carried 82 passengers and six crew. WHO says the case involved a passenger from the Netherlands whose husband died of the virus on the ship; her condition deteriorated during the flight to Johannesburg. She leaves the vessel at Saint Helena after experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms on April 24, then flies the next day and dies after arriving at a Johannesburg emergency department on April 26. Tests confirmed hantavirus on May 4. WHO says contact tracing for passengers on the flight has begun, with South African health authorities coordinating notifications and monitoring potential exposures, including people with close or symptomatic contacts. Reporting also notes that Saint Helena authorities ask a limited number of travellers or those with very close contact to isolate as a precaution, while other suspected cases in Spain have been under observation pending test results.
WHO begins contact tracing for hantavirus passenger flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg
The World Health Organization (WHO) is tracing passengers and contacts after a cruise ship traveller who later died of hantavirus disembarks in Saint Helena. The person took an Airlink flight from St...
- WHO initiates contact tracing for people on an Airlink flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg linked to a hantavirus death.
- The April 25 flight carried 82 passengers and six crew.
- A Dutch woman left the MV Hondius at Saint Helena with gastrointestinal symptoms, flew to Johannesburg, and dies after arrival; hantavirus tests later return positive.
- South African authorities and WHO coordinate passenger notification and monitoring, including guidance for self-isolation for closely exposed individuals.
- Saint Helena authorities report no confirmed cases on the island at the time but begin risk-based tracing of those with close contact.
Health authorities have launched international contact tracing efforts following three deaths aboard a cruise ship linked to suspected hantavirus exposure. Officials are monitoring passengers who disembarked in St. Helena, while suspected cases in Alicante and Barcelona remain under observation pending test results. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Madrid.
3 months agoSOUTH African health authorities are tracing contacts following a hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship, which has resulted in eight cases and three fatalities. The World Health Organization is coordinating a global response as local health officials monitor potential exposures.
3 months agoA 69-year-old woman who later died in South Africa is among those who left MV Hondius at St Helena.
3 months agoGENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was tracing people on a flight between the island of Saint Helena and Johannesburg, taken by a cruise ship passenger who died of hantavirus. A total of 82 passengers and six crew were on board the April 25 flight from the British island in the Atlantic Ocean, South African-based carrier Airlink told AFP. They included a Dutch woman whose husband died of the virus on the ship and whose condition "deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg", WHO said in a statement. She had left the ship in Saint Helena with "gastrointestinal symptoms" on April 24, flew the next day and died upon arrival at the emergency department of a Johannesburg hospital on April 26, the WHO said. On May 4, tests for hantavirus proved positive. "Contact tracing for passengers on the flight has been initiated," the WHO said. Airlink operates one flight a week from the island, which takes around four hours and 45 minutes. The South African authorities had asked the airline to notify the passengers that they must contact the health department, a representative, Karin Murray, told AFP. WHO said it suspected that hantavirus may have spread between people on the cruise ship, which on Tuesday was anchored just off Cape Verde. Besides the Dutch couple, a German passenger has also died. There are two confirmed and five suspected cases. Saint Helena, home to around 4,400 close-knit people, said passengers from the MV Hondius had come ashore and some people on the remote South Atlantic island were being asked to isolate themselves. "Two passengers with minor symptoms came ashore and may have had some contact with members of our local community," the British overseas territory's government said in a statement. "While the virus can be serious, no cases of this illness have been identified in St Helena and there is no significant cause for concern on the island at this time. "A small number of people who travelled to St Helena on the MV Hondius or had very close contact with those who were showing symptoms, are being advised by Public Health to undertake a period of self-isolation as a precaution." The government said a full risk-based contact tracing process was under way to identify and notify such persons.
3 months agoThe World Health Organization said Tuesday it was tracing people on a flight between the island of Saint Helena and Johannesburg, taken by a cruise ship passenger who died of hantavirus. The post WHO tracks 80 passengers after woman dies from hantavirus appeared first on Vanguard News.
3 months agoGENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization said Tuesday it was tracing people on a flight between the island of Saint Helena and Johannesburg taken by a cruise ship passenger who died of hantavirus. There had been 82 passengers and six crew onboard the April 25 flight, South African-based carrier Airlink told AFP. They included a Dutch woman whose husband died of the virus on the ship and whose condition “deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg”, WHO said in a statement. READ: Suspected hantavirus outbreak on Atlantic cruise ship kills 3 She had left the ship in Saint Helena with […]...Keep on reading: WHO tracing over 80 people on flight taken by hantavirus victim
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