Indian-origin scientist Jay Bhattacharya has urged people not to panic over the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship near Spain’s Canary Islands, saying the situation is very different from the Covid-19 pandemic and is unlikely to turn into a major global health crisis.
Seven American passengers had already left the cruise ship after the first hantavirus-related death and later travelled to several US states, including Texas, California and Georgia. Since symptoms can take up to six weeks to appear, health officials are still monitoring them closely. However, CDC chief Jay Bhattacharya said fellow airline passengers are not being traced because the infected travellers were not showing symptoms during their flights.
‘This Is Not Covid’: Indian-Origin CDC Chief urges calm
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Bhattacharya, who is currently serving as acting Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said health officials were already following tried-and-tested hantavirus protocols that had worked during previous outbreaks.
“I don’t want to cause a public panic,” Bhattacharya said during the interview.
“We want to treat it with our hantavirus protocols that were successful at containing outbreaks in the past,” he added.
He also added that people should not compare the outbreak to COVID-19. “The key message I want to send to your audience is that this is not COVID. This is not going to lead to the [same] kind of outbreak,” Bhattacharya said. “We shouldn’t be panicking when the evidence doesn’t warrant it.”
Two Indian crew members ‘healthy and asymptomatic’
Meanwhile, the Embassy of India in Spain said on Sunday that the two Indian crew members onboard the ship were “healthy and asymptomatic.” According to the embassy, the two Indian nationals have been evacuated to the Netherlands and will remain in quarantine under health safety protocols.
The embassy said the Indian Ambassador was in close contact with Spanish authorities and was regularly monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of the Indian nationals.
Americans on board being monitored
Bhattacharya said the CDC had already contacted passengers linked to the outbreak and was closely monitoring them. “The CDC has been in contact with each of the passengers,” he said.
“We’re doing interviews with them, and we’re preparing to have them evacuated to the Nebraska facility at the University of Nebraska, which is a fantastic facility.”
According to reports, 17 Americans were on board the ship. Some are expected to quarantine at a specialist facility in Nebraska after returning to the United States.
Bhattacharya said the CDC was following the same strategy used during the 2018 Andes hantavirus outbreak in Epuyén, Argentina, where 11 people died.
“It will include advice given to these … travelers, including an offer to stay in Nebraska if they’d like, or if they want to go back home, and their home situation allows it, to safely drive them home without exposing other people on the way,” he explained.
What Happened on the Cruise Ship?
The outbreak was reported aboard the Dutch expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, which had around 150 passengers on board. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), at least three passengers have died while several others fell seriously ill with hantavirus symptoms since April 11.
By May 8, the WHO said eight hantavirus cases had been identified, including three deaths. Six of those infections were confirmed as Andes virus, a rare form of hantavirus that has occasionally shown limited human-to-human transmission.
The ship later anchored near the Canary Islands, after which passengers started disembarking under health safety protocols laid down by WHO and Spanish authorities.