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One of two Yukoners who have been isolating in British Columbia after hantavirus broke out on their cruise ship has now presumptively tested positive for the virus.
The couple, who are in their 70s, were required to isolate for a minimum of 21 days after vacationing on the MV Hondius. After arriving in Victoria earlier this week along with two other Canadians, they have remained in B.C. in order to be closer to emergency health care if needed.
They were among 10 Canadians who, as of May 8, were identified as potentially being exposed to the virus. The others include two from Alberta, three from Ontario, and one from Quebec.
“Clearly, this is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer.
Henry said the couple had no direct contact with the people who fell ill on the ship. But two days ago, one person started to develop mild symptoms, including fever and headache.
Henry said the individual was assessed and tested at a hospital in Victoria, and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control confirmed a presumptive positive test result of the Andes strain of hantavirus on Friday.
That result still needs to be confirmed by a microbiology lab in Winnipeg. The person is still in hospital in isolation and considered stable. Their partner was evaluated and tested negative, and is being monitored in hospital.
“The overall risk picture in the Yukon is certainly low for this,” said Dr. Sudit Ranade, the territory’s chief medical officer of health, speaking at a news conference held in Whitehorse earlier this week.
“But we’re watching very, very carefully around the world to see what happens in terms of what additional cases might we see from the boat and what additional cases might we see from those cases.”
Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases.
“I want to emphasize that hantavirus is a very different virus than the other respiratory viruses that we’ve been dealing with — like COVID, like influenza, like measles — and it remains one that we do not consider to have pandemic potential,” Henry said on Saturday.
Three people have died since the outbreak began. World Health Organization officials continue to reassure the public, saying risk of wider spread remains low.
