Canada’s national public health agency confirmed Sunday that one of four Canadians who returned home from a cruise ship tied to a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus, with officials saying a partner of the confirmed case tested negative as well.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said the national lab confirmation came a day after British Columbia’s public health officer said the person had received a “presumptive positive,” with additional testing to follow at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
In a statement, the national agency said, “One individual’s sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus,” and it reported that the second individual, who traveled with the confirmed case, was “confirmed negative.”
Both people are a couple in their 70s from the Yukon, and the agency said they are in a hospital in Victoria. The agency said all four Canadians who returned to British Columbia last Sunday are in isolation, including three other passengers besides the couple: a person in their 70s from Vancouver Island and a British Columbia resident in their 50s who lives abroad.
The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has resulted in deaths since it began, with officials telling Canadians that three people have died. The agency said the Canadian patient would be the 10th person from the ship to test positive, and that among the three who died are a Dutch couple whom health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.
In its statement, the Canadian public health agency said it is taking a “precautionary approach” to protect the public. The agency added that the “overall risk to the general population in Canada from the Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship remains low at this time,” and it said all confirmed cases to date have been passengers or crew on the MV Hondius.
The agency said it provided the information about the positive test to the World Health Organization and will share information to support the ongoing global investigation of the outbreak.