3 Canadians isolating following hantavirus outbreak on cruise. Live updates here.

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Epidemiologist speaks on the latest developments of hantavirus outbreak

WHO deems public health risk of hantavirus as ‘low’ despite ‘frightening situation' on cruise ship

Two dead after 29 passengers disembarked from Saint Helena amid hantavirus outbreak

How rare is the strain of hantavirus found in cruise ship passengers amid outbreak?

Three people evacuated from cruise ship amid hantavirus outbreak

CTV National News: Deadly hantavirus outbreak strands cruise ship off West Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) is taking measures to mitigate the spread of hantavirus after eight cases, three of which resulted in death, were reported following an outbreak on a cruise ship.

So far, five of eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, according to the WHO. The organization is investigating the spread of the virus and developing plans for the remaining passengers to disembark from the ship, the MV Hondius.

While the situation is serious, WHO officials stressed during a Thursday news conference that the public health risk remains low.

Follow for key updates:

‘It’s a completely different virus’

Epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos says that, while Canadians might see parallels between the hantavirus outbreak and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to keep in mind that they are not the same virus.

“The likelihood that this is going to turn into a major public health emergency … is obviously very, very low.”

Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist

Quebecer not in close proximity: Minister

Quebec Health Minister Sonia Bélanger confirmed Thursday that a Quebecer was on the same flight as a passenger afflicted with hantavirus.

“According to our information, it doesn’t seem like they were in close proximity, and the risk of transmission is very low,” she said. “We remain on the alert.”

Bélanger added that the Quebecer in question is in isolation and not exhibiting any symptoms.

The minister stated that the risk to the general population remains “very low” and that “human to human” transmission is “extremely rare.”

Rachel Lau, CTV News Montreal digital reporter

Ontario residents in isolation: health minister

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones says that two Ontario residents who were on a cruise ship that’s been hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are currently in isolation but are not believed to be at risk of transmitting the virus.

Jones made the comment during an unrelated news conference on Thursday afternoon.

“The two individuals are in fact Ontario residents and they are actively being monitored and working with local public health authorities on a daily basis to make sure the isolation is occurring. That has been going on since they returned home,” Jones said.

Jones said that she anticipates that the incubation and monitoring period for any Ontarians potentially exposed to hantavirus will be around 30 days, though she said that the situation is “fluid.”

“We are getting regular updates on not only these two individuals but preparing to see if there are any other individuals who could perhaps return to Canada and Ontario,” she said.

Full story here.

Chris Fox, CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca journalist

Third Canadian in Quebec

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says a third affected Canadian is now in Quebec. Two others were in Ontario.

All three are asymptomatic and were asked to self-isolate.

Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist

Two Canadians now in Ontario

Two Canadians who disembarked a cruise ship that’s been hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are in Ontario and actively being monitored, the province’s health minister says.

The Canadian Press

‘This is not going to produce a huge pandemic’

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Gerald Evans says hantavirus is nothing like COVID-19.

“This is not like some of the respiratory viruses we deal with all the time,” Evans told CTV News Channel on Thursday, citing SARS and influenza as examples.

Evans says despite the “substantial mortality rate, for which we have no treatment, there is no question that this is not like COVID-19.”

He says contact tracing efforts will help prevent the spread of the virus, and will become “expansive” now, due to cruise ship passengers disembarking the ship at different ports.

“That means you’re involving lots of different countries where they may have disembarked.”

Kayla Thompson, CTVNews.ca journalist

Risk is ‘very low’: Toronto’s top doctor

With two Canadians now confirmed to be in Ontario, Toronto’s top doctor Michelle Murti says she “can’t provide any additional information” but reassures residents that the risk of transmission is “very low.”

“What I can say is that this is the day-to-day work of public health… we’re following the best practices around infection control and making sure that as we identify individuals who may have been exposed, that they’re getting the follow up and care they need.”

Murti adds that most cases typically occur in other provinces such as BC, Manitoba and Quebec, emphasizing “but even then, we (Ontario) have only had 109 cases since 1989.”

She says her team is coordinating with provincial and federal officials but is reassuring that the current risk to Torontonians is very low and “not common” in the province.

Jermaine Wilson, CTVNewsToronto.ca journalist

Consular officials heading to Tenerife

Canadian consular officials are en route to Spain’s Tenerife, where the cruise ship is expected to dock in a few days, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Thursday.

Anand said Canada has set up a “strategic response team” to respond to the hantavirus outbreak, though she did not go into detail during a brief appearance with reporters in Ottawa. She said the team involved the “whole of government.”

Consular services will be offered to the Canadians onboard the ship. Anand also said she’s been in contact with her counterparts in Spain and the U.K. to co-ordinate efforts and support each others’ citizens.

Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist

Two Canadians among passengers

Two Canadians are among the 30 passengers who disembarked a cruise ship that’s been hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak.

Ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions says the individuals left the boat on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena on April 24.

The Canadian Press

Nationals from 12 countries left ship

More than two dozen passengers from at least 12 different countries left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday.

The news raised concerns that the virus could spread as travellers returned home, although experts say the risk to the wider public is considered low as hantavirus isn’t easily transmitted between people.

The Associated Press. Read the full story here.

The first case

WHO officials say the first case was detected in a male passenger who developed symptoms on April 6. He died on April 11.

No samples were taken at the time, because crew staff did not suspect he had been infected with hantavirus.

The man’s wife was also symptomatic, and deboarded in Saint Helena, a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Angola.

Her symptoms worsened during a flight to Johannesburg on April 25 and she died the following day.

Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist

Canada, other countries in contact with WHO

The World Health Organization said Thursday it had informed 12 countries that its nationals had disembarked the MV Hondius cruise ship on the remote British island of Saint Helena.

“Those 12 countries are Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States of America,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing in Geneva.

AFP

More cases possible

The WHO says it’s possible more cases will be reported and confirmed in the coming days as infected people develop symptoms. The organization says it has reached out to relevant authorities for people who may have had contact with infected passengers.

Luca Caruso-Moro, CTVNews.ca journalist

2,500 diagnostic kits

The WHO said Thursday that Argentina would send 2,500 hantavirus diagnostic kits to labs in five countries.

AFP