It’s the news no one wanted to hear — another passenger from the ill-fated MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus. And with dozens still in quarantine, experts say more cases could be on the way.

Right, here’s the latest on that worrying hantavirus situation from the MV Hondius, as reported by cbinews.tv.

A Spanish national who was taken off the cruise ship MV Hondius has now tested positive for hantavirus. Spain’s Ministry of Health confirmed the case on Monday. The patient is currently isolating at a hospital in Madrid.

This passenger was one of 14 Spaniards on board the Hondius. The whole group has been in quarantine at the Gómez Ulla Central Defense Hospital in Madrid since 10 May.

According to authorities, this person was already flagged as a close contact during the epidemiological monitoring that kicked in after the outbreak was first picked up on the ship. Once the case was confirmed, they were moved straight to the hospital’s High-Level Isolation Unit, or UATAN, for specialist care.

That makes two Spaniards from the Hondius who’ve now tested positive.

The health ministry was quick to reassure everyone, though. They said the case was picked up through the existing isolation and control system, so it doesn’t actually raise the risk for the general public. The current response measures stay the same.

Just to recap how we got here: health authorities across several countries have been scrambling to trace and contain this outbreak after three passengers sadly died following the MV Hondius’ departure from Argentina back in April.

Dozens of passengers got off at Saint Helena, that remote South Atlantic island, in late April. The rest left the ship in Spain’s Canary Islands in May and were flown home. Some crew members later disembarked in the Netherlands.

Infectious disease experts told CNN last week that anyone who was on board since early May is now in the prime window for symptoms to show up.

“No one would be surprised if there are others that test positive this upcoming week,” said Dr Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the University of Toronto.

The virus usually takes about three weeks to incubate, according to his research. But symptoms can take up to six weeks to appear — which is why most countries are monitoring passengers for at least 42 days from the day they left the ship.

Hantavirus is normally linked to rodents, but the World Health Organization says it may have spread from human to human on the vessel. It’s rare, but nasty. It starts off feeling like flu — fatigue, fever, chills, aches. But it can escalate and damage the heart, lungs or kidneys, leading to severe shortness of breath, organ failure, or even death.

Source: cbinews.tv

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