Two Singaporeans who were on board the MV Hondius cruise ship, which has been affected by a hantavirus outbreak, have tested negative for the virus, the island nation's Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) has confirmed.
Testing and Quarantine Measures
The CDA's public health laboratory conducted tests on multiple samples collected from the individuals and confirmed that hantavirus, including the Andes virus, was not detected. The two men, aged 67 and 65, were isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases after being on the cruise ship when it departed from the Argentinian port of Ushuaia on 1 April.
As an added precaution, the duo will be quarantined for 30 days from the date of last exposure and will undergo further testing before being released. They will then be monitored through phone surveillance for the remainder of 45 days, which is the maximum incubation period for hantavirus exposure.
Risk Assessment and Global Response
"The risk to the general public in Singapore remains low," the agency said, adding that it was closely monitoring the situation. Countries around the world are scrambling to prevent further spread of the virus by tracking those who had already disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since.
Three people—a Dutch couple and a German national—have died so far on the MV Hondius. Besides the deaths, there have been five confirmed and three suspected cases of the virus, including two people who returned to the UK and a British man in hospital in the Netherlands.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that detailed investigations are currently underway into the incident, including extensive laboratory testing and epidemiological studies to understand the virus's spread. Sequencing of the virus from the current outbreak is also ongoing.
Transmission and Background
Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings. The virus has been present for centuries and has a documented history of outbreaks across Asia and Europe, but it is rare to pass between humans.
Both Singaporeans had disembarked from the ship and were on the same flight as a confirmed hantavirus case from St Helena to Johannesburg on 25 April. The person with the confirmed infection did not travel to Singapore and has since died in South Africa, the agency said.
Evacuation Plans
Meanwhile, Spanish authorities were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board the cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations. The vessel is expected to arrive on Sunday at the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, and passengers will be taken to a "completely isolated, cordoned-off area," said the head of Spain's emergency services, Virginia Barcones. Officials have sought to reassure the public in the Canary Islands about possible exposure to the virus among the general population.
Both the UK and the US have agreed to send planes to evacuate dozens of their citizens from the cruise ship.
