Small Number of People in Scotland Linked to Hantavirus Outbreak
Public health officials are tracing contacts and testing samples as researchers study whether existing antiviral drugs could work against the rare Andes strain.
- On Thursday, Public Health Scotland warned that a small number of people in Scotland have potentially had contact with hantavirus from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, which carried around 150 tourists from Southern Argentina to Cape Verde.
- The rare Andes strain emerged aboard the MV Hondius approximately three weeks ago as it sailed from Southern Argentina to Cape Verde, resulting in three deaths and nine confirmed cases among passengers.
- As of Wednesday, the World Health Organisation confirmed eight laboratory cases of Andes virus infection, two probable, and one inconclusive; a 70-year-old male died in St Helena Island while his 69-year-old wife died in South Africa.
- Twenty Brits evacuated from the cruise ship on Sunday began 45 days of self-isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside after landing at Manchester, while six returned home on Wednesday after testing negative.
- Scientists at Glasgow's Centre for Virus Research are examining samples from around 20 cruise ship passengers to investigate whether existing antiviral treatments or vaccines for other hantavirus types could work against the Andes strain.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Hantavirus Outbreak Update: Three Dead On Cruise As Deadly Andes Strain Triggers UK Quarantine Rules
A small number of people in the UK are now under precautionary monitoring after being linked to the deadly Andes strain at the centre of a Hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius, with Welsh public health officials confirming on Friday that residents are self-isolating and being tested under UK quarantine rules. Hantavirus outbreak was first detected onboard the Dutch-flagged expedition vessel as it sailed from Argentina towards Antarc…
Endemic for decades in some parts of Argentina, Hantavirus, including the Andes transmissible strain from human to human that spread on board the cruise ship MV Hondius, has given local scientists some expertise in the disease, without lifting all unknowns.
Very unlikely hantavirus outbreak will be akin to Covid pandemic, expert says
Professor Emma Thomson heads the MRC Centre for Virus Research in Glasgow, which is examining the outbreak. The UK may see a small number of cases of hantavirus in the wake of an outbreak on a cruise ship – but an expert in infectious diseases has said it is “very, very unlikely” it will be “akin to the Covid-19 pandemic”. Professor Emma Thomson heads the MRC Centre for Virus Research at Glasgow University – one of only two centres in the UK cur…
Hantavirus expert's verdict on UK outbreak - and why it's nothing like Covid
Prof Emma Thomson of the MRC Centre for Virus Research says the UK may see 'one or two' positive hantavirus cases following the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak, but insists a Covid-19-style pandemic is 'very, very unlikely'
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