Swiss authorities have confirmed a case of hantavirus in their country, amid a health crisis due to an outbreak of this pathogen on the cruise ship Hondius. The man is hospitalized in Zurich, where he is receiving medical care.
The patient has been isolated, and laboratories have confirmed that the virus belongs to the Andes strain, present in South America and also confirmed in seven other cases detected on board the cruise ship, Swiss health authorities said. So far, eight cases have been detected among the passengers of the vessel, five of them pending confirmation.
The patient’s wife has also been isolated for safety, and possible contacts of the patient in recent days are being traced
They added that transmission of this type of virus is possible between people, but only in cases of close contact, so it is unlikely that more cases will occur in Switzerland and, for now, there is no danger to the general population.
The man returned from a trip to South America with his wife at the end of April, and disembarked in South Africa with his partner, from where he traveled to his country by plane. After responding to an email from the shipping company informing about the health event, he presented himself at the Zurich hospital upon noticing symptoms of the disease, where he was immediately isolated. His wife has also been isolated for safety, although she has not shown any symptoms so far, and authorities are tracing possible contacts of the patient in recent days.
According to the Federal Office of Public Health, hantavirus cases in Switzerland are extremely rare in the country, as no more than half a dozen are detected each year, most of them originating from infections contracted abroad.
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases of South Africa and the University Hospitals of Geneva confirmed that the virus causing the outbreak is the Andes species, a hantavirus found in South America and of which rare cases of person-to-person transmission have been documented.
Likewise, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, assured that the overall risk to public health remains low, and stated that the WHO continues to collaborate with the ship’s operators “to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, and with countries to facilitate medical follow-up and evacuation when necessary.”
Adhanom confirmed that three patients suspected of infection have been evacuated in the Netherlands and are on their way to receive medical treatment. Likewise, the organization assures that monitoring of passengers on board and those who have already disembarked has begun, in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities.
