WHO tracing over 80 people on flight taken by hantavirus victim

The World Health Organization said Tuesday it was tracing people on a flight between the island of Saint Helena and Johannesburg, taken by a cruise ship passenger who died of hantavirus.

A total of 82 passengers and six crew were on board the April 25 flight from the British island in the Atlantic Ocean, South African-based carrier Airlink told AFP.

They included a Dutch woman whose husband died of the virus on the ship and whose condition "deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg", WHO said in a statement.

She had left the ship in Saint Helena with "gastrointestinal symptoms" on April 24, flew the next day and died upon arrival at the emergency department of a Johannesburg hospital on April 26, the WHO said.

On May 4, tests for hantavirus proved positive.

"Contact tracing for passengers on the flight has been initiated," the WHO said.

Airlink operates one flight a week from the island, which takes around four hours and 45 minutes.

The South African authorities had asked the airline to notify the passengers that they must contact the health department, a representative, Karin Murray, told AFP.

WHO said it suspected that hantavirus may have spread between people on the cruise ship, which on Tuesday was anchored just off Cape Verde.

Besides the Dutch couple, a German passenger has also died. There are two confirmed and five suspected cases.

Saint Helena, home to around 4,400 close-knit people, said passengers from the MV Hondius had come ashore and some people on the remote South Atlantic island were being asked to isolate themselves.

"Two passengers with minor symptoms came ashore and may have had some contact with members of our local community," the British overseas territory's government said in a statement.

"While the virus can be serious, no cases of this illness have been identified in St Helena and there is no significant cause for concern on the island at this time.

"A small number of people who travelled to St Helena on the MV Hondius or had very close contact with those who were showing symptoms, are being advised by Public Health to undertake a period of self-isolation as a precaution."

The government said a full risk-based contact tracing process was under way to identify and notify such persons. 

Studies indicate hantaviruses have been around for centuries, with outbreaks documented in Asia and Europe. It wasn't until the early 1990s that a previously unknown group of hantaviruses emerged in the southwestern United States as the cause of an acute respiratory disease now known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

The disease gained attention last year after late actor Gene Hackman 's wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from a hantavirus infection in New Mexico.

Hantavirus is mainly spread by contact with rodents or their urine, saliva or droppings, particularly when the material is disturbed and becomes airborne, posing a risk of inhalation. People are typically exposed to hantavirus around their homes, cabins or sheds, especially when cleaning out enclosed spaces with little ventilation or exploring areas where there are mouse droppings. 

Agencies