The Hague, May 5 (IANS). The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that a second case of hantavirus infection has been found on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. With this the total number of infected people on the ship has increased to two. This information was given by Dutch cruise ship operator ‘Oceanwide Expeditions’ in a statement.
According to the company, the new case is a Dutch female traveler who died on April 27. Earlier, a Dutch couple and a German citizen had also died. Apart from this, two crew members of the ship are ill. About 150 people are still present on the ship. Another infected passenger, a British citizen, left the ship and is undergoing treatment in the ICU in Johannesburg, South Africa.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the company said that two crew members on the ship are still suffering from serious respiratory problems. The condition of one of them is mild and that of the other is more serious. Both need immediate treatment. Both these crew members are citizens of Britain and Netherlands. No symptoms have been found in anyone else yet.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that are commonly found in rodents such as rats and can cause serious disease in humans. This infection is usually spread through contact with infected rats or their urine, feces or saliva. Its spread from person to person is very rare.
The virus spreads when a person touches the urine, feces or saliva of infected rats or comes in contact with a surface contaminated with them. This often happens when people clean places where there is a lot of rat infestation. This disease is more common in areas like villages, forests, fields and farms, because the number of rats is more there.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) initially presents with symptoms such as headache, dizziness, chills, fever, and muscle pain. Along with this, stomach related problems like vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain can also occur. Later, serious conditions like sudden difficulty in breathing and drop in blood pressure may occur.
Symptoms of this disease usually appear 2 to 4 weeks after coming in contact with the virus. However, in some cases these symptoms may appear within a week, while sometimes they may appear even after 8 weeks.
–IANS
AS/