Canadian Tests Positive for Hantavirus After Cruise Ship Voyage

Toronto. Health officials in Canada's British Columbia province have confirmed an infection in a Canadian who traveled on the cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a Hantavirus outbreak. This person is one of four people in isolation on Vancouver Island. According to health officials, the person has mild symptoms. Bonnie Henry, Chief Health Officer of British Columbia, stated that all four, including the infected person, have not been in public contact since returning to Canada. With this, the number of infected people related to the ship has reached 11. Three of them have died, and Hantavirus infection was confirmed in two people. Health officials stated that the test result that came on Friday was called "presumptive positive," meaning initially positive. The final confirmation will be done by the National Microbiology Laboratory. Bonnie Henry said, "This is not the situation we hoped for, but we were prepared for it." She mentioned that Hantavirus is different from easily spread respiratory viruses like COVID-19, influenza, or measles, and it has no potential to cause an epidemic. A total of six Canadian passengers were on the Dutch ship. Two of them are in isolation at home in Ontario, while another two couples are staying separately on Vancouver Island. The infected person is a resident of Yukon. So far, infection has not been confirmed in the remaining five people.