加拿大确认一起与邮轮爆发疫情相关的人汉坦病毒病例，已有三人死亡

(SeaPRwire) –   加拿大卫生官员周日证实，四名从MV Hondius号邮轮返回的加拿大人中有一人检测出汉坦病毒阳性。与该疫情相关的死亡人数已达三人。

加拿大公共卫生署确认该检测结果呈阳性，此前不列颠哥伦比亚省首席公共卫生官曾将该病例描述为“疑似阳性”。

该机构在一份声明中表示：“一名个体的样本已确诊为汉坦病毒阳性。”

officials said additional testing will be conducted at a national laboratory. It was not immediately clear whether that testing was for confirmation, strain characterization or another purpose.

The development comes as global health officials continue monitoring the rare hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius, which has sickened multiple passengers.

As of May 13, the World Health Organization said 11 cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case. Those figures included three deaths. The Associated Press later reported that the Canadian confirmation brought the number of people from the ship who had tested positive to 10.

Canadian health officials said four Canadians returned home from the MV Hondius, though only one has tested positive for the virus.

The confirmed patient and a traveling companion — identified as a Yukon couple in their 70s — returned from the cruise together. The companion later tested negative, officials said.

A third person in their 70s from Vancouver Island remains in isolation, along with a British Columbia resident in their 50s.

So far, no confirmed U.S. cases tied to the cruise ship have been reported, though WHO said as of May 13 that one U.S.-repatriated passenger had inconclusive laboratory results and was undergoing retesting.

Last week, however, health officials in Ontario County, New York, announced they were investigating a suspected locally acquired hantavirus case unrelated to the cruise ship.

The Ontario County Public Health Department said there was no risk to the general public. Officials also said the strain typically seen in the United States is not known to spread from person to person.

The outbreak linked to the MV Hondius began after the Dutch cruise ship, carrying 147 passengers and crew members, departed Argentina on April 1 for a South Atlantic voyage.

The outbreak has prompted heightened precautions internationally, including in the Netherlands, where Radboud University Medical Center quarantined 12 staff members after officials said a hantavirus patient’s blood and urine were not handled under the strictest protocols recommended for the virus strain.

The outbreak has also sparked comparisons to the coronavirus pandemic. However, senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel previously told Digital there is “no comparison.”

He noted hantavirus is difficult to spread.

“It’s not airborne … in terms of respiratory droplets hanging in the air,” he said. “It’s very difficult to transmit.”

While coronavirus “moved in the direction of humans in a significant way,” hantavirus has not, except for “very rare” cases of human-to-human transmission, he added.

The World Health Organization has assessed the risk to the global population as low, while noting that current evidence suggests subsequent human-to-human transmission may have occurred on board. Andes virus is the only hantavirus known to have documented person-to-person transmission, though such spread is considered rare.

Siegel also noted hantavirus cases have been reported in the United States for decades, though they remain “very rare.”

Digital’s Brittany Miller and Angelica Stabile, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.