New Zealand passenger from hantavirus cruise MV Hondius quarantines in Taiwan

A New Zealand passenger from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship is in hospital quarantine in Taiwan, according to Taiwanese health authorities.

The person, who has tested negative for the rare disease and is showing no symptoms, arrived in Taiwan on May 7 after disembarking from the cruise ship in St Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean, on April 24.

New Zealand authorities told Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control (CDC) on Wednesday that the person was in Taiwan, CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-hui said.

The person will remain there until June 6, Tseng told AFP.

Tseng declined to provide details about the person’s age, gender or exact location in Taiwan.

“At present, we believe their probability of developing the disease is relatively low,” Tseng said.

“Their last exposure with the other passengers was on the 25th of April, which is about 20 days ago.”

The virus has a potential incubation period of 42 days.

CDC director-general Lo Yi-chun told reporters that the person did not return to New Zealand after leaving the cruise ship, but would not provide information on the route they took to Taiwan.

A spokesperson for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said it was “providing consular assistance to a dual national” in Taiwan.

“The person resides outside New Zealand and sought help from MFAT on Wednesday 13 May,” the ministry said.

The ship set sail from Argentina on April 1, charting a course across the Atlantic Ocean.

Health authorities have repeatedly emphasised that the broader risk to public health from the outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus - the only one known to spread between people - is low.

Globally, the death toll remains at three.

No vaccines or specific treatments exist, but health officials have said the risk is low and have dismissed comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yesterday six people, including a Kiwi, arrived in Perth and were taken under police escort to the Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience to spend the next three weeks in quarantine, the ABC reported.

The group, all passengers on board the MV Honius, had left the Netherlands on Thursday.

- AFP, additional reporting NZ Herald