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One of four Canadians isolating in British Columbia after leaving the cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak has presumptively tested positive, B.C.’s top doctor said Saturday.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, said the patient was hospitalized after developing mild symptoms, including fever and headache, two days ago.
The test came back with what is called a presumptive positive on Friday. The result needs to be confirmed by a national microbiology lab in Winnipeg but means the patient will be treated as having the illness.
“Clearly, this is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for,” Henry said.
“I know news like this can be very concerning and can cause us to think about what we went through together over the last number of years, but 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.”
Four cruise ship passengers starting isolating on Vancouver Island after returning to Canada on Sunday. Three of the four people who were isolating in accommodation arranged by the health authority have been brought to hospitals in Victoria, and the fourth person is still isolating at home.
The province previously said they were an Island resident in their 70s, another person from B.C. in their 50s who currently lives abroad, and a couple from the Yukon in their 70s.
The person with the presumptive test result is one of the Yukon individuals, Henry said. That person’s partner was evaluated for “very minor symptoms,” but has tested negative.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says a Canadian isolating in B.C. has presumptively tested positive for hantavirus after leaving the cruise ship affected by an outbreak of the Andes strain in recent weeks.
The third person who had been staying in the Island Health lodging has not tested positive, either, but was hospitalized for monitoring “out of an abundance of caution.”
They are being monitored in negative pressure rooms, which are kept at a lower air pressure than surrounding spaces so air flows inside, rather than out into the hospital, when health-care workers open the door.
“There’s no need to delay seeking care in Island Health today should you or your family need it,” Dr. Réka Gustafson, Island Health’s chief medical health officer, said Saturday. “Our hospitals care for patients with serious medical conditions and infections every day.”
Four Canadians from a cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak were flown to B.C. after docking on one of Spain’s Canary Islands. B.C. health officials said all four are asymptomatic as they begin a 21-day monitored isolation period.
Henry emphasized that none of the travellers came into contact with the public during their transfer from Victoria International Airport after landing on Sunday, and that all health-care workers involved wore personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times.
The four passengers were initially required to isolate for a minimum of 21 days, the highest-risk portion of the virus’s 42-day incubation period.
“Clearly for the couple from Yukon, that situation has changed quite dramatically and we’ll be reassessing [their isolation requirements],” Henry said.
The Early Edition6:53Four Canadian passengers on cruise ship hit by hantavirus outbreak arrive in British Columbia
In a statement Saturday, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said results from the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg are expected in the next two days.
“The overall risk to the general population in Canada from the Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship remains low at this time. But given the severity of this virus, we are taking a precautionary approach to ensure Canadians are protected.”
3 deaths since outbreak began on ship
Henry noted that all 11 people who’ve tested positive globally were people who were on the cruise ship for an extended period of time, meaning the virus has not sickened anyone who wasn’t on the trip to date.
Three people have died since the hantavirus outbreak began on the MV Hondius.
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 ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually emerge between one and eight weeks after exposure.
Henry said the four Canadians isolating in the Island Health region had no known direct contact with the people who fell ill on the ship.
People who might have been on their plane back to Canada on Sunday are not considered to be at risk, she said, because the cruise ship did not have symptoms on the flight and the current patient did not develop any for 48 hours after landing.
“We’ve had infection control precautions in place from the moment these people arrived in British Columbia, and I’m confident there’s no additional risk to anybody else outside of the people who have been caring for these individuals,” Henry said, referring to the health-care workers who need to follow PPE protocols.
