A passenger from New Zealand who entered Taiwan last month after traveling aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has completed self-health management and tested negative in four rounds of hantavirus testing, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
On May 2, the WHO received a report that a cluster of passengers on the MV Hondius, which carried 147 passengers and crew, were showing signs of severe respiratory illness.
Tests later confirmed an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus.
Photo: Lin Huei-chin, Taipei Times
The New Zealand passenger who came to Taiwan was identified through notifications issued by the WHO and International Health Regulations (IHR) reporting mechanism, the CDC said.
After the passenger arrived on May 7, the CDC arranged for them to undergo enhanced self-health management and health monitoring in a hospital room during the monitoring period, it said.
The passenger did not experience a fever, cough, breathing difficulties or any other symptoms suggestive of hantavirus infection during the monitoring period, the CDC said, adding that they were tested on May 14, May 20, May 27 and on Wednesday.
The tests included Andes hantavirus polymerase chain reaction tests, as well as serum IgM and IgG antibody tests, and they all came back negative, with the passenger remaining in stable health condition, it said.
“Given the negative test results and the completion of the 42-day enhanced self-health management and monitoring period, the passenger poses no risk of community transmission [of hantavirus] in Taiwan,” the CDC said.
The mandatory enhanced self-health management was lifted yesterday, the centers said, adding that the WHO and New Zealand were notified through Taiwan’s IHR Focal Point.
As of Tuesday last week, 13 cases (11 confirmed and 2 potential cases), including three deaths, have been linked to the hantavirus cluster on the MV Hondius, indicating a case fatality rate of 23 percent, the CDC said.
Cross-border contact tracing efforts are ongoing, and as of May 22, more than 600 contacts had been traced, with 53 percent classified as high-risk contacts, it said.
Although the WHO assessed the global risk of the outbreak as low, the CDC said it would continue to monitor the situation through international cooperation mechanisms, including the WHO and IHR.
The centers would also adjust prevention and control measures in response to the evolving situation, it added.
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