WORLD NEWS: Three passengers evacuated, a French contact case, the strain transmissible between humans…
New information reveals that the following story has emerged from the international scene.
A Frenchman identified among the “contact cases” The French health authorities indicated on Wednesday that they were mobilized by “close monitoring” of the situation on the ship MV Hondius, where several cases of hantavirus have occurred and where three passengers have died, while a Frenchman is one of the people who traveled on the same flight as an infected person. While “contact tracing is underway around confirmed cases”, specified the Ministry of Health, “on board the ship as in South Africa”, a French national was notably identified as a “contact case”, because he was among “the passengers of a flight taken by one of the cases before his hospitalization”. The risk for overall public health “remains low”, according to the head of the WHO “At this stage, the overall risk for public health remains low”, reported this Wednesday the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), specifying that “the WHO continues to collaborate with the operators of the boat in order to closely monitor the state of health of the passengers and crew, and works with countries to ensure appropriate medical monitoring and evacuation if necessary.”Two infectious disease specialists on their way from the Netherlands to board the shipTwo infectious disease doctors are on their way from the Netherlands to board the ship hit by several cases of hantavirus and three passengers have died, said the Dutch cruise line operating the trip. “Two infectious disease specialists, currently on their way from the Netherlands, will board the MV Hondius and remain on board of the ship after its planned departure from Cape Verde,” Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement. The MV Hondius should dock in Spain at the end of the week Tuesday evening, the Spanish ministry indicated that the MV Hondius ship, currently in Cape Verde, was soon to take the route to the Canaries, once the evacuation of three suspected cases has been completed in the small African island country. Spain should welcome the cruise ship within “3 to 4 days” in the Canaries, announced Tuesday evening the Spanish Ministry of Health, specifying that “the precise port (of arrival) has not[vait] not yet been defined. “Once there, the crew and passengers will be duly examined, taken care of and transferred to their respective countries,” said the ministry. The flight evacuating a sick doctor to the Canaries is finally “cancelled” The flight which was to evacuate a doctor from the MV Hondius to the Canaries was “cancelled”, announced a source close to the presidency of the region, firmly opposed to the arrival planned in the coming days in the archipelago of the ship, hotbed of hantavirus. “What the Canary Islands government regrets that there is not enough information to know if there are risks that must be faced,” added this source, specifying that they did not know why this flight had been canceled. Ship passenger hospitalized in Zurich for hantavirus infection A passenger who traveled on the cruise ship is hospitalized in Zurich, Switzerland, after testing positive, the Swiss Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday. “One person is currently being treated at the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) for a hantavirus infection. “This man was traveling on the cruise ship where several cases of infections appeared,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that “this man and his wife were returning from a trip to South America at the end of April.” Medical evacuation “in progress” of three suspected cases (two sick and one contact case) by Cape Verde The evacuation of two sick crew members and a contact person from a ship suspected of being an outbreak of hantavirus “is in progress” via the Cape Verde, Ann Lindstrand, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Cape Verde, told AFP on Wednesday. “All three are in stable condition and one of them is asymptomatic,” said Ann Lindstrand. The MV Hondius should leave the Cape Verde archipelago after the medical evacuation of these three people, who must be disembarked at the port of the capital Praia before being taken by ambulance to the airport near the city where they will be evacuated by plane, according to the WHO. A cruise passenger infected with the Andean strain, transmissible between humansThe strain of hantavirus detected on one of the cruise passengers evacuated to South Africa is that of the Andes transmissible between humans, the South African Minister of Health declared this Wednesday before a parliamentary committee. “The first tests show that it is indeed the strain of the Andes. This is the only strain, among the 38 known, that can be transmitted from one person to another,” explained Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. Two passengers (one sick and one dead) were transferred to South Africa. cruiseThree people, two Dutch and a German, have died since the start of the cruise on the ship MV Hondius, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The boat connected Ushuaïa, Argentina, to the Cape Verde archipelago, off the West African coast. It has been anchored since Sunday near the port of Praia, the Cape Verdean capital, with 88 passengers and 59 crew members of 23 nationalities. The presence of an outbreak of hantavirus, an infection that can cause acute respiratory syndrome, has been authenticated. Two cases of hantavirus were laboratory confirmed and five suspected cases were identified, including the three deaths. It was a 70-year-old Dutch passenger who first presented symptoms (fever, headache and mild diarrhea) on April 6, according to the WHO. He died on April 11 on board the ship.
What This Means:
Experts suggest this event marks a turning point that may influence policy decisions worldwide.
World leaders are expected to respond to these developments in the coming days.
Stay tuned for more updates as this story continues to unfold.
Source: This article was originally published in another language by 20Minutes – Actu Monde and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.