Canadian health officials on May 16 confirmed that one of four citizens quarantined in British Columbia has tested preliminary positive for hantavirus. The individual was aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, the epicenter of an outbreak that has killed three people.
Speaking at a press briefing, Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's provincial health officer, said the patient developed mild symptoms, including fever and headache, two days ago. The patient and their partner—also a passenger on the cruise ship and quarantined together—were transferred to a hospital in Victoria for assessment and testing.
Test results on the evening of May 15 showed the sample from the person with mild symptoms was preliminary positive. However, Dr. Henry stressed that samples must be sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg for confirmatory testing, with final results expected later this week.
"Certainly this is not what we were hoping for, but it is what we prepared for," Dr. Henry said. "The patient is stable, symptoms remain mild. They are in hospital, in an isolation room, being monitored and cared for as needed."
The patient's partner tested negative but will remain in hospital for further observation. With "an abundance of caution," a third person who was quarantined in the same facility was also transferred to hospital for monitoring. The fourth individual remains in self-isolation at home under daily monitoring, according to Dr. Henry.
The four Canadian citizens were aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius when the hantavirus outbreak occurred, and they arrived in Victoria on May 10. Upon arrival, all four were assessed and found symptom-free. They were taken directly to accommodations to begin a minimum 21-day quarantine. The World Health Organization recommends a 42-day quarantine period.
Since April 11, three people who were aboard the cruise ship have died from suspected hantavirus infection, including a Dutch couple and a German woman.
