3 Canadians isolating in 2 provinces over possible hantavirus exposure
Two Canadians who were aboard a cruise ship that was the site of a hantavirus outbreak are now in Ontario, Canada’s foreign affairs and health ministers confirmed Thursday, while a third possible contact is isolating in Quebec.
A joint statement from Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the two Canadians, who left the vessel before the outbreak was declared, are asymptomatic and have been directed to self-isolate.
The Canadians were among roughly 30 passengers who disembarked from the MV Hondius cruise ship on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena on April 24. They returned to Canada on the same flight as a third Canadian from Quebec who may have come into contact with them, the federal ministers said.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones told reporters at an unrelated news conference Thursday that the two individuals now isolating in the province are not believed to be a transmission risk, but 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.
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She said the incubation and monitoring period will likely be around 30 days, which began as soon as the individuals returned to Ontario.
The third Canadian, who was not on the cruise but was aboard the same flight as the other two Canadians, “may have come into contact with a symptomatic individual,” the federal ministers said.
That person has since returned home to Quebec but is “not considered a high-risk close contact by the World Health Organization,” their statement says.
“All three are asymptomatic, have received guidance to self-isolate, and are being monitored by local authorities for the development of symptoms.”
Quebec’s health ministry said in a statement Thursday that the individual in that province is cooperating with health authorities.
“At this stage, no confirmed cases of hantavirus have been identified in Quebec,” the statement said in French.
Michel and Anand said federal government officials are in contact with four other Canadians onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship and will be in the Canary Islands to monitor their disembarkment from the vessel “to ensure that all public health protocols are followed.”
Anand said in a separate statement Wednesday evening that there were “no known cases of Canadians infected onboard the ship.”
The body of a Dutch man who died on April 11 was taken off the ship the same day the two Canadians disembarked in St. Helena.
The World Health Organization says eight hantavirus cases have been reported including three deaths.
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