A person in a hazmat suit is escorted to an ambulance from a medical aircraft believed to be carrying some of the passengers from the cruise ship, at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam on Wednesday.Peter Dejong/The Associated Press
Two Canadians who disembarked a cruise ship that’s been hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are in Ontario and have been isolating since they returned home, the province’s health minister says.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said it is believed that they are not a transmission risk, but the situation is fluid.
Jones says the province is preparing to see if there are any other individuals who need to return to Canada and Ontario.
She says the incubation and monitoring period will likely be around 30 days.
Earlier this week, Global Affairs Canada said there were four Canadians among the nearly 150 people stranded aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship off the west coast of Africa.
What is hantavirus, how does it spread and what are the symptoms?
Countries worldwide are seeking to prevent further spread of the hantavirus on Thursday, after an outbreak on the cruise ship, by tracking those who had already disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since.
Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius. In total, five people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another three suspected cases, the World Health Organization said.
Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person.
More to come.
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