One of 17 US citizens tests positive for hantavirus

One of 17 American citizens being repatriated from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship has tested mildly positive for the virus, the US health department said yesterday. "One passenger currently has mild symptoms and another passenger tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus," the Department of Health and Human Services said. Both passengers were travelling in the plane's biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," it said. The US passengers evacuated from the Spanish Canary Islands, where the ship made a stop, will be taken to a specialised centre in the rural state of Nebraska. The person with mild symptoms will be taken to a second centre. Upon arrival, "each person will undergo clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition". Eight people no longer on the MV Hondius have fallen ill, according to a World Health Organization tally from Friday, of which six are confirmed to have contracted the virus. Three people have died, a Dutch couple and a German national. Ireland, Spain, France and the US have evacuated their citizens from the MV Hondius, which has anchored near Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, officials said. The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine for all passengers, while experts have urged calm, reminding a public scarred from the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic that this virus was far less contagious and posed little risk. The virus, usually spread by rodents but transmissible person-to-person in rare close contact, was first detected on 2 May in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a British man who fell ill, 21 days after another passenger had died. After the outbreak was detected, the vessel left for Spain last Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde, having sailed from the southern tip of Argentina across the South Atlantic to the Cape Verde islands. Meanwhile, Australia will charter a flight to evacuate its citizens from the cruise ship, with returning passengers expected to be quarantined on arrival, the government said. Environment Minister Murray Watt said four Australians, one resident of Tenerife and one resident of New Zealand will be repatriated. "This is being done via an Australian government-supported flight, and we expect those people to return to Australia soon," Mr Watt told reporters in Canberra. "Quarantine arrangements are being finalised as we speak with the states and territories." It was not known if any of the people being brought to Australia have fallen ill or were showing symptoms of the virus. The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request seeking more details. New Zealand's Director of Public Health Corina Grey said in a statement today that the country's health services had the capacity to support any quarantine measures if required. Spain's health minister said the final two evacuation flights, one from Australia and another from the Netherlands, would depart this afternoon local time.