Credit: Ruslanas Baranauskas, Science Photo Library

Officials reported two suspected hantavirus cases on Friday—one in Spain and another on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha.

A Spanish woman who was on the same flight as a passenger who died of hantavirus is currently being treated at a hospital for a suspected infection, local officials said Friday, News.Az reports, citing Global News.

The Spanish Health Ministry said in a Friday briefing that a 32-year-old woman was being treated in the city of Alicante.

The woman was “sitting two rows behind the person who died from hantavirus, a person who tested positive, having had only brief contact as they were on board the plane for a short time,” said Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla.

Padilla noted that others on the flight have developed potential symptoms but later tested negative, including a Dutch flight attendant.

“This is what happened with the flight attendant on the KLM flight, and we are confident that the same will happen here,” he said during the news conference.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that the Dutch KLM flight attendant had been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam on Thursday with signs of a possible infection but had tested negative.

The infected woman travelled from St. Helena to Johannesburg on a commercial flight and was trying to take another flight home when she fell seriously ill at O.R. Tambo International Airport. She died at a nearby hospital on April 26. She was one of dozens of cruise ship passengers who disembarked at St. Helena.

The woman’s 70-year-old husband was the first passenger to die on board the MV Hondius on April 11.

In a second case, a British government official said that a person with a suspected case of hantavirus on the island of Tristan da Cunha is a resident who was hospitalized.

Stephen Doughty, the U.K. minister of overseas territories, confirmed the news in a statement shared on Tristan da Cunha’s official website, writing, “I wanted to reach out personally and say I am very sorry to hear that Tristan has been affected by the health situation concerning the MV Hondius cruise ship.”

“My thoughts are with the islander currently in hospital and their spouse who is isolating. I also understand you [Tristan da Cunha] have four islanders currently on St Helena that travelled on the ship,” he continued.
Doughty said that he is “personally tracking events” and will make sure to share “urgent advice and appropriate support as a priority.”

On Thursday, the WHO said there have been five confirmed cases of the virus and three suspected cases as health officials continue to seek and monitor passengers who left the MV Hondius along its voyage.

Hantavirus usually spreads by inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and, in rare cases, can be transmitted from person to person, according to the WHO. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

There is no specific treatment or cure for hantavirus, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli