Canadians on ship at centre of hantavirus outbreak land in Victoria

The 4 canadian river citizens who were alongside a sail ship stricken with a rarified hantavirus outbreak landed in B.C. On Sunday evening, where they will continue their quarantine.

Online plane tracking platform FlightAware says the aircraft carrying the Canadians arrived at the airport in Victoria from Saguenay-Bagotville Airport in Quebec.

They are to isolate in B.C. Because they have connections with the province, said B.C's health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

"This has undoubtedly been a stressful and difficult experience for the Canadians and everybody aboard the MV Hondius," Henry said at a Sunday news conference.

Canadians repatriated from hantavirus-stricken cruise ship to be flown to B.C.

"They are undoubtedly looking forward to being back home in Canada, where they can get the care and monitoring they need."

In a Sunday bulletin, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said the Canadians were first travelling on a chartered aircraft from Tenerife, Spain to Bagotville, Que.

"Upon arrival in B.C., the travellers will be assessed by local public health before leaving the airport to stay at a pre-determined location to self-isolate for a minimum of 21 days" dated back to May 6, the agency said.

PHAC said B.C. Health officials will reassess the situation at the end of that period.

Canadian passengers disembark off hantavirus-hit cruise ship

May 10|

Duration 6:43

Canadian passengers disembark off hantavirus-hit cruise ship

In a Sunday update, Henry said the passengers would isolate in pre-arranged lodgings in B.C. For their three-week isolation period, which may be extended up to 42 days if necessary, due to the hantavirus' incubation period.

"At no point during their arrival or isolation period will they be in contact with the public. They will be monitored daily by local public health teams to ensure that they remain well and are safely isolating," Henry said.

While officials are treating the passengers as if they have been exposed to the virus, none of them have shown symptoms, she said, adding that "secure plans are in place" to keep the public safe if one of them does fall ill.

Henry said that some of the four have "connections with British Columbia," but officials are not sharing other details, including their province of origin, and are asking the public to respect their privacy.

"They have been through several challenging weeks when a lot was not known, and of the eight (people) we know have this virus, three of them have died," she said.

"So, that is a particularly challenging and frightening experience.”

Henry stressed that the hantavirus is "quite different" than COVID-19, and is much more difficult to transmit between humans.

But she said she understood how the news could revive Canadians' anxiety about the pandemic.

“I absolutely get that feeling,” she said, adding that when she heard about passengers falling ill aboard a cruise ship “it made my stomach clench.”

What COVID-19 taught us about containing the hantavirus outbreak

Unlike COVID, which usually first presents as an upper respiratory infection that can spread through talking or coughing, the Andes strain of hantavirus causes a deep lung infection that requires extremely close contact to transmit, she said.

University of British Columbia infectious disease specialist Dr. Srinivas Murthy said the passengers aboard the ship who got sick likely had "substantial" exposure to the virus.

As a result, he said it was "very unlikely" that the passengers isolating in B.C. Would be able to spread the virus, even if they did become sick, due to the strict precautions being taken to isolate them.

However, Henry said B.C. Health officials have protocols and specialized teams in place if necessary, including the B.C. Biocontainment Treatment Centre at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

She added the human-transmissible Andes strain is different than the strain of hantavirus found in B.C., which is transmitted through rodent droppings and urine.

PHAC said a Canadian consular official had been on the ground in Tenerife since Thursday providing support to the four Canadians who had been aboard the MV Hondius.

All four have been following isolation protocols on the ship since May 4, and remain asymptomatic, according to PHAC.

Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship's owner, says there were four Canadians among about 130 other asymptomatic passengers on board the MV Hondius when it reached port in the Canary Islands on Sunday.

Passengers were given a final health assessment before being brought ashore by small vessels, with physical distancing measures in place, according to PHAC. They were then screened again by Spanish health officials before being transported by bus directly to the airport, the agency said.

A PHAC officer was aboard the repatriation flight, which involved public health measures including masking and physical distancing.

Hantavirus-hit cruise ship evacuations

Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.

Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Several Canadians have been told to isolate after coming into contact with infected passengers.

A couple from the Grey Bruce region of Ontario disembarked from the ship in late April before the outbreak was declared and have showed no symptoms.

Four other Canadians — from Quebec, Alberta and Ontario — were not on the ship but may have come into contact with someone infected with hantavirus while flying, the federal government said.

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