DOH: 38 Filipinos on ship with suspected hantavirus ‘have no illnesses’
MANILA, Philippines — The 38 Filipino crew members aboard a cruise ship with a suspected hantavirus outbreak have no illnesses, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
“The good news, according to the WHO (World Health Organization) through the International Health Regulations, is that they (Filipino crew members) have no illnesses. We have not heard or received any reports so far. We are in close coordination,” DOH spokesperson Albert Domingo said in Filipino during an interview on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.
He added that the situation poses no threat to the country, as the crew remains quarantined aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, which is anchored off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean, far from the Philippines.
READ: Cruise ship awaits aid after 3 die in suspected hantavirus outbreak
“We are monitoring the situation and, according to our coordination with [other] government agencies, the responsibility of repatriation now falls on the operator,” Domingo noted. “They are a cruise ship, there is a company, let us monitor how they will get home.”
In a statement on Monday, the WHO said two confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases were recorded aboard the MV Hondius. Three passengers have died, while another is critically ill and is being treated at a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said in a statement that the ship had a total of 88 passengers and 61 crew members, including 38 Filipinos. It remains anchored off the coast of Cape Verde as of Monday, with local health authorities having already visited the ship and assessed the situation.
READ: Hantavirus emergency: Filipinos make up bulk of MV Hondius crew
Oceanwide said passengers will not disembark in Cape Verde, except for three individuals who will be medically evacuated. The company said it is considering sailing the ship to Las Palmas or Tenerife in Spain for further medical screening and handling, but stressed that no final disembarkation point for those on board has been determined.
Meanwhile, the WHO said further investigations are ongoing. It said the outbreak is being managed through a “coordinated international response” that includes “in-depth investigations, case isolation and care, medical evacuation, and laboratory investigations.”
According to Domingo, hantavirus is a rare disease that can be contracted through contact with the urine or feces of infected rats. Its symptoms include flu-like illness and body pain, similar to those of leptospirosis and dengue.
He said there have been no recent cases of hantavirus in the Philippines. Domingo noted that the DOH is even verifying whether reports of hantavirus cases in the country recorded in 1992 were accurate or if they were actually another disease. /mcm
