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The Kiwi exposed to the hantavirus outbreak is reportedly in “good health” and is expected to depart the Netherlands on a flight to Australia. The Australian Government said it was hopeful it would finalise plans to have six passengers, including the New Zealander, on the way to start quarantine in Australia within 48 hours, ABC reported. Australian Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the Australian passengers and the Kiwi are “all in good health” and in “relatively good spirits” despite what they have been through. This comes after three people died and at least six others were infected after a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship during its voyage around South America last month. Australian quarantine ABC said the passengers reportedly arrived in the Netherlands today about 10.30am NZT and will be medically assessed while in hotel quarantine. They will then be flown to the Royal Australian Air Force military air base in Perth. After this, they will be “transported immediately” to the nearby Bullsbrook quarantine centre. “These are complex arrangements given the distance between the Netherlands and Australia,” Butler said. The six passengers will be isolated at the facility for at least three weeks. Three people have died and at least six others appear to be infected after a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Photo / AFP Risk to New Zealand Ministry of Health New Zealand director of public health Dr Corina Grey said it was not aware, at this stage, of any people who may have been exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship who are in New Zealand. She said the risk to New Zealand from hantavirus remains low. While the disease can be severe, Grey said it is not easily transmissible from human to human and requires close, prolonged personal contact. Grey said the focus is on supporting the Kiwi passenger and protecting the public from any health threat. “There are systems that can be activated to ensure public health services are alerted if someone who has been exposed to hantavirus travels to New Zealand,” Grey said. She said the department was in regular contact with the affected New Zealander, alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). Grey said Health New Zealand’s public health services are well-positioned to support anyone returning to New Zealand after possible exposure to hantavirus. This includes the capacity to support a period of quarantine, if that is required. According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, hantavirus is spread from several species of rodents in their urine, droppings and saliva. Photo / 123rf What is a hantavirus? The disease at the centre of the cruise ship outbreak is rare but deadly as it attacks people’s respiratory function. University of Otago professor of public health Michael Baker told the Herald that hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread to humans through rodents that can lead to serious illness and death. People become infected with hantavirus by inhaling dust that contains rat droppings and urine. Hantaviruses can cause the disorders haemorrhagic fever and respiratory syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). The former makes up the majority of the world’s about 200,000 cases each year but has a low fatality rate, Baker said. The latter, commonly found in the Americas, is “very dangerous”, with about a third of the 100 people who contract the disease in Argentina annually dying. HPS begins with normal flu-like symptoms such as fever and muscle aches, fatigue and headaches, but after four to seven days, an abrupt transition to more severe symptoms occurs. Those are a cough, shortness of breath and hypoxia before the infected person’s lungs fill with fluid.
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