Hong Kong health authorities are seeking more information from the World Health Organization (WHO) on an outbreak of a deadly hantavirus strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission reported on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, while ramping up efforts to prevent the rare disease from reaching the city’s shores.
The Department of Health’s Centre for Health Protection revealed on Thursday that it had contacted the WHO about the hantavirus cluster found on the MV Hondius after the vessel departed from Argentina on April 1.
As of Wednesday, the cluster comprised three confirmed cases and another five suspected patients.
The department noted that the first patient in the cluster only showed symptoms on April 6, with all three of the confirmed cases later dying.
“Further laboratory testing showed that the hantaviruses in two of the confirmed cases belonged to the Andes genotype, which is currently the only type of hantaviruses confirmed to have limited human-to-human transmission,” it said.
02:49
Hantavirus-hit ship sails for Canary Islands as 3 people evacuated for medical treatment
Hantavirus-hit ship sails for Canary Islands as 3 people evacuated for medical treatment
In Hong Kong, the centre had recorded an average of zero to two cases of hantavirus infections annually over the past five years.