Dutch flight attendant and French national isolated after contact with hantavirus patient

A Dutch flight attendant and a French national have been placed in isolation with mild symptoms after coming into contact with a woman who later died of hantavirus in South Africa, officials said. The woman was linked to an outbreak aboard a South Atlantic cruise ship.

The Dutch flight attendant was taken from her home by ambulance on Wednesday night and admitted to Amsterdam UMC, where she is being tested for hantavirus, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport confirmed to RTL Nieuws.

The flight attendant had been aboard a KLM flight that was scheduled to leave Johannesburg for Amsterdam at 11:15 p.m. on April 25. The 69-year-old Dutch woman was briefly on the aircraft before the crew decided not to take her on the flight because of her health condition.

The passenger died the next day in Johannesburg. She had been traveling after leaving the Hondius, an expedition cruise ship that departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 with 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries.

Dutch health authorities have identified about 60 people for contact tracing after possible exposure to the woman, according to RTL Nieuws. Five of them, including the flight attendant, had what officials described as intensive contact because they helped the woman while she was aboard the aircraft.

About 50 others who sat in the same row as the woman, two rows in front of her or two rows behind her are being contacted for passive monitoring and have been told to check their temperature daily.

Two airline passengers who developed symptoms after contact with the woman have tested negative, according to RIVM, the Dutch public health institute.

French health officials said they are also monitoring a separate group of contacts from the same travel chain. Eight French nationals who were not aboard the cruise ship were identified as contacts of a confirmed case after the patient left the ship and traveled on an international flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg on April 25.

One of those French contacts developed mild symptoms and is being tested, according to France’s health ministry. Isolation measures have been put in place, while the other identified contacts were reached by regional health agencies and offered temporary isolation and testing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said eight confirmed or suspected cases have been reported, including three deaths.

“WHO is aware of reports of other people with symptoms who may have had contact with one of the passengers. In each case, we are in close contact with the relevant authorities,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a Thursday update.

“Given the incubation period for Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,” Dr. Tedros added.