Dutch Officials Confirm 40 Disembarked From Hantavirus Cruise Ship

MOSCOW, May 7 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- Dozens of passengers from the Dutch cruise liner MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak occurred, have disembarked on the island of St. Helena, with their contacts being traced, the Dutch Foreign Ministry and Health, Welfare and Sport Ministry said on Thursday, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

The MV Hondius made an intermediate stop at Saint Helena before sailing towards the shores of Cape Verde, the two ministries said in a letter to the parliament.

Several passengers left the ship, including a Dutch national who later died from hantavirus in Johannesburg, the letter added.

"Additionally, about 40 others landed on St. Helena, including a Swiss citizen who later developed symptoms and was diagnosed with hantavirus," the letter also read.

Public Health England, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO), is working to trace the contacts of the remaining travellers on St. Helena, the Dutch ministries said.

The WHO said that the Andes strain of hantavirus had been detected on the Atlantic cruise liner, with the diagnosis confirmed by tests conducted at institutes in South Africa and Switzerland.

The total number of confirmed infections reached eight after an additional case was identified in a patient who had returned to Switzerland. Three of them have died.

The Dutch authorities said that the risk of the virus spreading in the Netherlands was extremely low, even though it is the Andes strain.

The statement came after KLM reported removing a passenger who later died from the virus and hospitalising a flight attendant who had been in contact with the deceased woman.

-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI