The EU health agency analyzed the strain of hantavirus that triggered the deadly outbreak. What preliminary investigations show
There is no evidence to suggest that the Andean strain of hantavirus has mutated in the deadly outbreak on board a cruise ship, the European Union's health agency, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said on Wednesday.
The deaths of three passengers on a cruise between Argentina and Cape Verde have sparked international concern. Seven other passengers have tested positive for this virus, including a French woman currently in critical condition, while one more case, the eighth, is considered a “probable case” of hantavirus infection, according to a count made by the France Presse agency, writes Agerpres.
All passengers on board the MV Hondius cruise ship have been evacuated and are now in quarantine.
“Preliminary investigations based on the full genome sequencing that we have suggest that there is no indication that this virus behaves differently from the virus already known and circulating in certain regions of the world,” Andreas Hoefer, from the Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, told reporters.
“All the sequences obtained so far are practically identical, which means that there was only one case of transmission from an infected animal to a human,” added Andreas Hoefer, a specialist in microbiology and molecular epidemiology.
The disease is generally transmitted by infected rodents, most often through their urine, droppings and saliva.
Laboratory tests in South Africa and Switzerland confirmed that it was the Andi strain, the only strain of hantavirus known to be transmitted between humans.
There is currently no vaccine or specific treatment against hantaviruses.
Infected people may be contagious even before symptoms appear
Directives formulated by the ECDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) provide for a 42-day quarantine and constant monitoring of people considered as high-risk contact cases, as the incubation period can last six weeks.
“Due to the long incubation period, it is possible that further cases will appear in the coming period among passengers who are currently in quarantine,” said Pamela Rendi-Wagner, director of the ECDC. “This cannot be ruled out,” she added.
Gianfranco Spiteri, director of ECDC's global epidemiological information and health security department, said the risk of viral transmission is higher in people who are already showing symptoms of the disease.
However, he did not rule out the hypothesis that people can be contagious in the last days before symptoms appear.
“Thus, with a view to prevention and maximum precaution, we recommend, for example, that the operation of searching for contact cases is also done during the two days preceding the appearance of symptoms,” he declared.
