Source: Radio New Zealand
Joao Luiz Bulcao / Hans Lucas via AFP
Health NZ has confirmed one of the New Zealanders on board a cruise ship struck by hantavirus does not usually live in New Zealand.
One New Zealand citizen left the ship before the hantavirus outbreak was revealed, while another disembarked on Monday and is now being quarantined in Australia.
Director of Public Health Dr Corina Gray said the first New Zealander to leave the ship was in fact a dual national and did not live in New Zealand.
“We can confirm New Zealand authorities have been in contact with a dual New Zealand national, not normally resident in New Zealand, who has been exposed to hantavirus,” she said in a statement.
“On Thursday last week, New Zealand authorities alerted the public health services where this person normally resides. We have also alerted health partners in the country where this person is currently located.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was in contact with the person.
“We are providing consular assistance to a dual national who ordinarily resides outside New Zealand, who has sought help from MFAT today.”
On Tuesday, the ABC reported the Australian Federal Health Minister Mark Butler as saying the Kiwi due to quarantine in Perth with five Australians was in “good health” and “relatively good spirits” despite the situation.
Three passengers on board the ship – a Dutch couple and a German national – have died after contracting the virus.
As of Tuesday, Butler told the ABC that a French national – also from the cruise – was in critical condition in hospital after testing positive for the virus.
What is hantavirus?
Hantavirus is typically spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings.
This particular strain, the Andes virus, is endemic to Argentina, and is the only strain of hantavirus that has been known to have human to human transmission – typically through very close contact such as sharing a bed or food.
Its symptoms typically include fever, headache, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms.
No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, but quick hospital care can often prevent symptoms turning deadly.
Hantaviruses are found in small mammals such as rats, mice, voles, shrews and lemmings, but no New Zealand rodents carry these viruses, University of Auckland associate professor of infectious diseases Dr Mark Thomas said.
“The only way a New Zealand resident could become unwell with a hantavirus infection would be as the result of travel to a country where the virus is present.”
WHO has said the investigations so far suggest possible exposure to rodents during bird watching activities.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand