Small number of people in Scotland linked to hantavirus outbreak
BBCA small number of people in Scotland have been linked to the hantavirus outbreak, according to the national public health body.
A rare strain of hantavirus broke out on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius as it sailed from Argentina to Cape Verde.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) said it will remain in close contact with those who have been exposed to the virus and will continue precautionary testing, as well as ongoing care and support.
There are currently no known cases of hantavirus in Scotland and the risk to the general public is very low, PHS said.
Three people died on the voyage and nine cases confirmed by tests have been identified.
The health body said it is working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS boards in Scotland to "take appropriate action".
Samples from those who have been contacted by health authorities will be sent to a high security lab in Glasgow for analysis.
Scientists at the Centre for Virus Research (CVR) have already received samples from about 20 people who were on the ship.
The team is looking into how the virus has spread as well as potential treatments.
"The symptoms are classically of respiratory illness, rather like a severe influenza infection or Covid-19 - people get very breathless," said centre director Prof Emma Thomson.
"Unfortunately, the consequences of the Andes strain can be very severe, and one in three people might be expected to die."
"So that makes it a very serious infection and that's why we need ongoing research to look for new treatments and vaccines."
On Wednesday, six people evacuated to the UK were able to return home or to suitable accommodation to complete a 45-day isolation period.
They had already isolated at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral for 72 hours and tested negative for the virus.
In total, 22 passengers and crew had been isolating at the Merseyside hospital - the rest will remain but are asymptomatic and have tested negative for the virus.
It has not been revealed for how long the remaining patients will stay in hospital.
Two British nationals with confirmed cases are being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.
The head of the UN health agency previously said there was "no sign" of a larger hantavirus outbreak.
Researchers at the CVR are now looking at blood and nasal samples from passengers, crew and traced contacts.
Thomson said the main aim is to investigate potential treatments and a vaccine.
"We are working on improving our understanding of how the virus divides, transmits, and thinking about how current antiviral treatments can be used as a new treatment," she said.
"For example, some vaccines that have been designed to fight against other types of hantavirus might also work against the Andes strain."
The CVR is one of the few specialist laboratories in the UK that can rapidly scale up for this kind of research, as it did during Covid-19.
Thomson said it is a similar situation to six years ago but this virus poses a lower risk.
"We have learned things from the pandemic, particularly around the benefit of repurposing known drugs to treat infections," she said.
"We now want to check if the antiviral therapies we have already are effective against this particular strain."
A number of cases have been seen in Scotland in the past, involving a different type of hantavirus which can only be transmitted from rodents.
Thomson said the highly specialised genetic research at the CVR provides a huge advantage in diagnosing all existing and emerging viruses, as well as being on the front foot on how to treat them.
"If we had someone in hospital with a severe respiratory infection, high fever and we didn't know the cause, it would be possible for us to sequence a virus within a matter of three or four hours, even a previously unknown virus," Thomson said.
But those on the cruise ship did not have access to this kind of science quickly enough.
"Those sorts of sequencing methodologies are not available everywhere," she added.
"Unfortunately it took quite a long period of time before the first case and the [hantavirus] diagnosis, around about a month.
"That means that the virus will have had more chance to spread, unfortunately, to other passengers on the ship.
"It was sort of the throw of the dice."
