Hantavirus outbreak not the start of a pandemic, says World Health Organization — BBC News

[0:00] Now, the World Health Organization has said that five of the eight suspected cases of Hantavirus [0:06] linked to the cruise ship MV Hondias have now been confirmed. [0:09] The ship is currently heading for Spain's Canary Islands. [0:13] That's after setting sail from Argentina a month ago. [0:16] The World Health Organization is warning that more cases are possible, [0:21] but officials have also stressed that the risk to the wider public is low, [0:25] and this is not a precursor to any kind of pandemic. [0:28] This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. [0:33] This is an outbreak that we see on a ship. [0:35] There's a confined area. We have five confirmed cases so far. [0:39] We completely understand why these questions are coming, [0:43] and we are trying to provide all of the information that we can. [0:46] That's why we're having a press conference here to give accurate information, [0:49] and we're grateful for all of those out there who are asking these types of questions, [0:53] but this is not the same situation we were in six years ago. [0:56] It doesn't spread the same way like coronaviruses do. [1:01] It's very different. It's that close, intimate contact that we've seen, [1:04] and most Hantavirus don't transmit between people at all. [1:08] Most Hantavirus are transmitted from rodents or their feces or their saliva, [1:12] or droppings, to people. [1:15] And only this one particular virus, the Andes virus, which has been identified here, [1:19] we've seen some human-to-human transmission. [1:21] And again, I want to reiterate, the actions that are being taken on board [1:25] are precautionary to prevent any onward spread. [1:29] Well, health officials from several different countries, including the United Kingdom, [1:33] are working to trace passengers who left the cruise liner before the outbreak was confirmed. [1:38] The MV Hondias left Argentina on the 1st of April. [1:42] Ten days later, on the 11th of April, the first passenger died, [1:46] a man from the Netherlands. [1:48] The cruise ship continued onto the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena, [1:52] where the wife of that man disembarked with his body. [1:56] She then travelled on to South Africa, where she later died. [2:00] She is a confirmed case. [2:02] And we now know that some 30 passengers in total disembarked in St Helena. [2:07] Seven British, six from the United States, three from the Netherlands, [2:11] two from Canada, Switzerland and Turkey, [2:13] and one case each from Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden [2:18] and the Caribbean island of St Kitts and Nevis. [2:21] All 12 countries have been contacted by the World Health Organisation. [2:26] We already knew about two British people who are self-isolating at home now [2:31] and who flew back to the UK. [2:33] Neither had symptoms, but they did contact the authorities [2:36] when they heard about the cases on board the cruise liner. [2:39] Well, the ship then continued its trip, dropping anchor off the coast of Cap Verde [2:44] on the 3rd of May. [2:46] And this is the current position of the vessel. [2:49] The remaining passengers and crew are sailing to the Canary Islands, [2:53] where they could be allowed to disembark on Saturday [2:56] if they do not appear to have any symptoms. [3:00] Well, our correspondent Guy Hedgecoe has the latest developments [3:02] on the ground in Tenerife. [3:04] Here in Tenerife, I think it's safe to say there is a certain amount of unease [3:09] at the prospect of this boat arriving at the island [3:13] either on Saturday or Sunday, which is when we're expecting it. [3:17] Local people I've spoken to have expressed concern, [3:20] in some cases some nervousness or even fear, [3:23] because they see this possibly as a repeat of Covid, [3:29] or certainly Covid is fresh in their minds. [3:31] And also we've seen, for example, local dock workers [3:36] have threatened to block the arrival of the boat the weekend [3:40] because they say there hasn't been enough information [3:42] given to the local population and to local workers. [3:45] Now, there has been a meeting today [3:47] between health ministry authorities [3:50] and the local government here in Canary Islands. [3:54] The local government had spoken out very strongly [3:56] against the arrival of this boat, [3:58] saying that the guarantees didn't seem to be there in terms of safety [4:02] and there had not been enough information. [4:04] But this seems to have been quite a constructive meeting. [4:08] And what has come out of it, [4:09] certainly from the Canary Island government, [4:13] has said that during that meeting [4:15] they discussed details about how the boat [4:18] won't actually dock at a port in the Canary Islands, [4:21] but it will be out at sea, it will anchor there [4:24] and then the passengers will be brought [4:26] in a smaller boat to Tenerife. [4:30] And so they seem very keen, the authorities, [4:32] to insist that this is going to be a safe operation. [4:38] That's our correspondent Guy Hedgecoe there in Tenerife. [4:40] Well, following on from that earlier news conference, [4:43] the World Health Organisation said that it is working [4:46] with health authorities in South Africa [4:48] and our correspondent there is Pumza Filani, [4:51] who's in Johannesburg, with more details. [4:54] One of the other things they mentioned there [4:56] is that the one British patient [4:58] who is being treated here in South Africa [5:00] is now starting to show signs of recovery, [5:03] seems to be on a recovery track. [5:06] And tied to that, on the sidelines of monitoring [5:09] his recovery, authorities are also trying to track down [5:13] at least 82 passengers and six crew members [5:16] who would have come into contact with the Dutch national [5:19] who flew here to South Africa to meet, [5:22] to try and repatriate her husband's body [5:25] back to the Netherlands, [5:26] the lady that you mentioned there who later died [5:28] in a separate hospital here in South Africa. [5:31] Authorities have said that while they largely believe [5:34] the risk is minimal, [5:36] they do want to err on the side of caution. [5:38] So the airline, Air Link, that flew the passengers [5:41] that had that woman in the plane [5:44] on the 25th of April have confirmed to us [5:47] that they've handed over all the necessary details [5:49] and that the health authorities have then [5:52] are beginning, are working on the process [5:53] of contacting them [5:54] so that monitoring can continue [5:57] over the period of the next few weeks [5:59] to make sure that people don't later then show symptoms. [6:03] Pumza Filani reporting there from Johannesburg. [6:06] Well, Sabra Klein is Professor of Molecular Microbiology [6:10] and Immunology for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School [6:13] of Public Health. [6:15] And I've been talking to her about this virus [6:17] and she told me what kind of virus it is. [6:19] Hanna viruses, as was noted in these news conferences, [6:23] they are carried by rodents [6:26] and that's how we get exposed to them [6:29] through exposure to their excrement. [6:32] And really it's that the virus can be aerosolized [6:36] so we can breathe it in from rodents. [6:40] In this case, I think there's growing concern [6:43] that Andy's virus, which is the Hanna virus [6:46] that these passengers have been exposed to, [6:51] can in rare cases be transmitted [6:54] through human-to-human contact. [6:56] But unlike SARS-CoV-2 or even influenza, [7:01] this requires very close contact, [7:04] often with bodily fluids. [7:06] So it is still very low risk of exposure, [7:12] but the long incubation period, [7:15] as was noted by the WHO, up to six weeks, [7:18] is why passengers have been being quarantined. [7:22] Yeah, so I suppose with that long incubation period, [7:26] it's hard to be absolutely certain of anything. [7:30] This is so true and very different, again, [7:34] from SARS-CoV-2, where you start developing symptoms [7:37] within a few days of exposure, [7:40] to think that you may not develop symptoms [7:43] until six weeks after exposure [7:46] creates a very different scenario [7:48] for quarantining people with known exposures. [7:52] And I suppose with all these people being on the ship, [7:57] this cruise liner, [7:59] they were in close proximity to each other. [8:01] And that is one of the reasons [8:02] that this spread so rapidly. [8:05] So it's not merely that you have to be in close proximity [8:09] because unlike influenza viruses or coronaviruses, [8:14] that can be carried in droplets from our saliva [8:18] and just a little bit goes a long way for hana viruses, [8:23] which are very rarely contracted through human-to-human spread, [8:29] it's really only this one hana virus, [8:31] Andes virus, that has been in rare instances [8:35] shown to be spread through human-to-human contact. [8:39] It really does require a significant amount of exposure, [8:46] typically to bodily fluids. [8:49] So, you know, it would be a lot, [8:51] it would be a much more extended exposure [8:56] to lead to this. [8:59] But there are those instances of super spreaders [9:02] who are just, they have such high viral loads, [9:07] they're able to spread it. [9:10] So it's looking like more and more, [9:12] that's what we might have here on this ship. [9:15] And just briefly, in terms of how dangerous it is, [9:18] I mean, this Andes virus, [9:21] it's pretty deadly, isn't it? [9:22] It has a pretty high fatality rate. [9:25] This is. [9:25] So, again, while risk to the public is low, [9:30] and this does not have pandemic potential, [9:35] this is a haemorrhagic fever virus. [9:38] And as you noted, Andes virus in particular [9:41] has about a 30 to 40% fatality rate. [9:46] So it is a very deadly virus, [9:48] as are many haemorrhagic fever viruses. [9:51] That's Sabra Klein, [9:52] who's Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.