SINGAPORE: Two Singapore residents who were on board a hantavirus-hit cruise ship continue to test negative for the disease, and have been allowed to continue their quarantine at home should they choose to do so until June 6.
Their most recent tests for the virus on May 22 turned out negative, including for the Andes strain responsible for an outbreak on the ship, the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said in response to queries from The Straits Times.
The 67-year-old Singaporean man and 65-year-old Singapore permanent resident were isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) after returning to Singapore, as part of the recommended 42-day monitoring period after their last exposure to the virus.
Most hantavirus cases are expected to show signs of infection within this window.
Both men were last exposed to the hantavirus on April 25, when they shared a flight with a confirmed hantavirus case from St Helena to the South African city of Johannesburg, after disembarking from the MV Hondius ship. They returned to Singapore separately on May 2 and May 6.
The pair were allowed to transition to home quarantine for the last 12 days of their quarantine from May 25 if they chose to do so. CDA did not reveal if they took up the option of going home.
Both of them are being monitored daily by the CDA and will be tested for the virus again before being released from quarantine.
“This ensures protection for the community and is aligned with the latest risk assessment,” CDA said.
The two men were on board the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius when it left the Argentinian port of Ushuaia on April 1, and disembarked at the remote British island of St Helena on April 24.
The following day, they boarded a flight to Johannesburg. A woman on that same flight who later died was subsequently confirmed to have been infected with disease.
The two Singapore residents tested negative for hantavirus infection after their return, the CDA said on May 8.
It previously enforced a 45-day monitoring period for hantavirus exposure. This was shortened following updated guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommends 42 days of quarantine for high-risk contacts and self-monitoring for low-risk contacts.
The UN agency has recorded 13 confirmed cases linked to the outbreak, including three deaths, as at May 27.
“For the general public, including people not exposed on board the ship or through close contact with a confirmed case, the overall probability of infection remains low,” WHO said in a notice on May 28.
MV Hondius was cleared to set sail again after cleaning and disinfection on May 30.
People can become infected with the hantavirus if they breathe in dust contaminated with urine, droppings or saliva from infected rodents, especially when cleaning or disturbing areas where there are rodents.
While hantaviruses do not usually spread from person to person, one strain – the Andes virus found in parts of South America and linked to the Hondius case – has been linked with human-to-human transmission.
Symptoms of infection with the Andes virus typically include fever, body aches, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms and difficulty breathing. It can progress rapidly to shock and death, CDA said previously.
Treatment includes supportive care and management in hospital, if required.
There is no specific antiviral treatment or vaccination for the disease. - The Straits Times/ANN
