The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy tracing the passengers of the flight on which the Dutch woman who died from the hantavirus traveled for contact tracing.
The woman left the cruise ship Hondius on the island of Saint Helena after becoming ill. She traveled by plane from the island to South Africa. Her condition deteriorated during the flight, the WHO told the AFP news agency. She died on arrival at hospital in Johannesburg, where she tested positive for the hantavirus. Her husband had already died on the ship from the virus.
There were 82 passengers and six crew members on board the April 25 flight. South African authorities have asked airline Airlink to inform passengers that they should contact the health department.
The WHO believes that people infected each other with the hantavirus on board the cruise ship.
Contact research on Saint Helena
Saint Helena reports that a contact investigation is also underway on the island, because sick passengers from the cruise ship have landed there and may have had contact with the local population. ‘A small number of people’ are advised to ‘go into self-isolation as a precaution’.
The British Overseas Territory administration emphasizes that the virus has not been detected on the island and that there is no cause for major concern. More than 4,000 people live on the island.
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