She is currently being tested
Due to a possible hantavirus infection, a flight attendant from the Netherlands has been hospitalised, Dutch media have reported.
The flight attendant is reported to have come into contact with the 69-year-old Dutch woman who died of the virus in Johannesburg, South Africa’s capital.
As the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight attendant is in isolation at Amsterdam UMC with mild symptoms, she is currently being tested for the hantavirus, RLT Nieuws reported, citing the Ministry of Public Health.
The Dutch woman died in a hospital in Johannesburg on April 26, following infection.
She had been on board a KLM plane at the O.R. Tambo International Airport for a “short period” a day earlier, before KLM staff asked her to disembark because she was sick.
The flight departed from Johannesburg to Amsterdam at 11:15 p.m. on April 25, following the removal of the woman from the aircraft.
As the Dutch health service GGD was working on contacting all the passengers on the flight, it warned them to keep an eye out for hantavirus symptoms.
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands said that the time between a hantavirus infection and the first symptoms showing can range from a few days to up to 60 days.
It added that it takes two to four weeks for symptoms to start showing, on average.
How did the hantavirus outbreak begin?
The outbreak started on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. Three passengers have died, including the Dutch woman and her husband.
The Dutchman died of an apparent respiratory disease on board the cruise ship on April 11.
The alarm by the shipping company was sounded last week after another ill passenger, a British national who was receiving intensive care at a hospital in Johannesburg, tested positive.
The results also came back positive for the Dutch woman who was tested for the virus, who had already died by that point.
Both of them tested positive for the Andes variant of the virus, which is a dangerous, rare variant which can be transmitted from person to person.
The World Health Organisation has said that there are now seven cases of hantavirus on the Hondius, including the three people who died.
On Wednesday, three people were evacuated as health authorities are working on getting the remaining passengers off the cruise ship.
Around 150 people, including 10 Dutch, are still on board the Hondius, according to the latest reports.
Last night, the ship departed from the coast of Cape Verde and is en route to the Canary Island of Tenerife.
NOS reported that the ship is expected to dock there on Saturday, after which the remaining passengers who aren’t showing symptoms can disembark.
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