Canadian cruise passenger recovers from hantavirus

A Canadian who tested positive for hantavirus after evacuating a cruise ship hit with an outbreak of the virus has recovered and been discharged from the hospital, British Columbia health officials confirmed Monday.

Four Canadians were presumed to have been exposed to the virus aboard the MV Hondius and have been isolating on Vancouver Island since returning to Canada on May 10. Only one of the four tested positive.

"We are happy to report that the person who became ill with hantavirus has recovered and was discharged from hospital late last week," the Office of the Provincial Health Officer of B.C. said. "The three other contacts continue to be in quarantine and are being followed daily by Island Health public health teams. All three remain asymptomatic."

The three remaining contacts will complete a 42-day quarantine — the maximum incubation period for hantavirus. The province has identified them as a Vancouver Island resident in their 70s, another B.C. resident in their 50s who lives abroad, and a couple from Yukon in their 70s. The patient who tested positive was one of the Yukon travellers.

Cruise passengers evacuated from the ship have been repatriated and are isolating in more than 20 countries. Three people were killed in the outbreak overall, and epidemiologists confirmed at least 11 cases of hantavirus linked to the ship.

Health experts believe the Andes strain involved in the outbreak can be transmitted between people in rare cases involving prolonged close contact, though in North America people are usually infected after inhaling contaminated residue from rodent droppings. B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said the Canadians isolating in the region had no known direct contact with people who fell ill on the ship. Argentine authorities are investigating the outbreak's origins, though reconstructing the chain of transmission has proven difficult.