National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) scientists are working with researchers in Senegal and Switzerland to map the genetic profile of the hantavirus strain linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak as they investigate its source and transmission.
By Thursday, the World Health Organisation had recorded five confirmed and three suspected cases of the potentially deadly virus. Two of the confirmed cases were identified in South Africa.
A Dutch woman died shortly after arrival in Joburg from St Helena last week, and a British man evacuated from Ascension Island is in critical condition in a Sandton hospital. Both were passengers on the vessel.
Scientists have confirmed the two South African cases were infected with the Andes strain of hantavirus, which has previously been reported as spreading between people in close contact.
Questions remain about the source of the outbreak and how it has spread, said NICD consultant in infectious diseases and microbiology Lucille Blumberg. The results of full genome sequencing of the virus are expected in the next week, she said.
Hantavirus infections in humans are rare but can progress rapidly after the initial flu-like symptoms appear. Most cases are transmitted to people from rodents, and only the Andes strain has been reported to have been passed from person to person, said Blumberg.
One previous case of hantavirus had been detected in South Africa several years ago, in a traveller from Eastern Europe who did not have the Andes strain, she said.
Some of the ship’s passengers were keen birdwatchers who had visited islands off the coast of Argentina known to have rodents that carry hantavirus, which could be the source of their outbreak, she said. Hantavirus is not found in rats in South Africa.
South African airline Airlink said it is working with officials from the health department and border management authority to trace passengers on board the flight from St Helena to Joburg on which the Dutch woman had travelled. It is unclear how many of the 82 passengers on board are in South Africa and how many travelled on to other countries.
The airline has instructed the six-member crew who manned the flight to stay home “in an abundance of caution”, said Airlink CEO de Villiers Engelbrecht.
It is unclear how many people were in contact with the man evacuated from Ascension Island.
Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said by Wednesday, 58 out of 74 people identified for contact tracing had been reached, two of whom had been referred for testing.
Mohale appealed to those who had been identified for contact tracing to co-operate with health officials to help prevent the spread of the virus.
“We also urge members of the public to stop spread[ing] misinformation and fake news about the virus because this has the potential to stigmatise and deter people [from coming] forward,” he said.
The WHO’s Maria van Kerkhove said that hantavirus is a well-understood pathogen and that the actions being taken by health authorities are precautionary.
“This is not Covid-19,” she said.
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