Radboud Hospital in the Netherlands has placed 12 medical staff members in a six-week quarantine after working with blood and urine samples from Hantavirus patients without following strict safety protocols, Reuters reports.
The hospital said the risk of infection was very low and patient care would continue as usual. The doctors’ quarantine highlights the challenge of quickly implementing and enforcing stricter safety protocols in hospitals and other settings dealing with the Hantavirus outbreak that broke out on the cruise ship M/V Hondius. The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the number of confirmed cases to nine. The head of the organization said more cases could be discovered because the disease has a long incubation period, but that this is not a pandemic and the disease is not comparable to Covid-19. Hantavirus can be deadly, but its transmission from person to person is not quick or easy, and requires prolonged, close contact.
Radboud Hospital received a Hantavirus patient from a cruise ship on the 7th of May. Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans told parliament that strict procedures were followed, but not as strict as would be necessary in the case of Hantavirus. The possibility that staff could have been infected is very small, but since it is a serious illness, the hospital decided to take complete safety precautions. Hermans added that the situation is completely different from Covid-19, and given the experience and knowledge, the spread of the virus can definitely be controlled.
After the last passengers disembarked in the Canary Islands, the M/V Hondius set sail for the Netherlands on the evening of the 11th of May, with 25 crew members, a doctor and a nurse on board. It is expected to reach its destination on the 17th of May.
Three people have died since the outbreak began.
Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents, but in rare cases it can also spread from person to person.
In addition to the nine confirmed cases, the WHO has also reported two suspected cases of Hantavirus, but this has not been confirmed. All of the cases are believed to have been infected on or before boarding the ship. All of the patients are in isolation and under medical supervision, minimizing the risk of further spread.
In the latest report of a possible Hantavirus case, Italy’s largest infectious diseases hospital said it would test samples from a man who had been in contact with a Dutch woman who died from Hantavirus.
Arnaud Fontanet, a spokesman for France’s Pasteur Institute, said it could take months to find new cases because the disease has a long incubation period. However, because Hantavirus is not easily transmitted, he believes there will be no more than a few dozen cases in total. Fontanet told Reuters that the crisis is an opportunity to test everything that has been done since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Spain has reported that one of 14 Spaniards in quarantine has tested positive for Hantavirus. The rest have tested negative.
The confirmed cases include a passenger from France who is currently in stable condition in intensive care.
18 cruise ship passengers have returned to the United States, one of whom has tested positive for Hantavirus.
Read also: Cruise ship with Hantavirus outbreak on its way to Spain
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