Singapore Isolates Hantavirus Cruise Passengers

Two residents of Singapore, aged 67 and 65, have been isolated and are undergoing testing for hantavirus at the Singapore — National Centre for Infectious Diseases after being exposed on the MV Hondius cruise ship. The MV Hondius, which departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, has been linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak resulting in eight suspected cases and three deaths. The two Singapore residents were also on the same flight from Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha — Saint Helena to Johannesburg as a confirmed hantavirus case who later died in South Africa. The International — European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Singapore is managing the situation, stating that the risk to the general public in Singapore is currently low. The World Health Organization has also assessed the overall global public health risk as low. Hantavirus is typically spread by rodents, but the Andes strain involved can be transmitted human-to-human.