6 Australian Passengers Infected with Hantavirus in Healthy Condition

JAKARTA - The Australian government stated that the six passengers on the cruise ship who were exposed to hantavirus were in good health and would undergo quarantine upon arrival in their home country.

Australian Health Minister Mark Butler, in an interview with ABC News, said five Australians and one New Zealander from the MV Hondius cruise ship affected by hantavirus were expected to arrive in the Netherlands before continuing their journey to Australia.

"They are scheduled to land at 08.10 am local time and will be transferred to the hotel quarantine facility, while preparations for the flight from the Netherlands to Australia are completed," said Butler as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, May 12.

He added that flight arrangements to bring the passengers were a difficult task and the six passengers would be repatriated gradually this week.

Butler said the Australian Government continued to coordinate with the Foreign Affairs Department to arrange flights with crew members who were willing to undergo isolation after transporting the passengers.

Upon arrival in Western Australia, passengers will enter a special quarantine facility for about three weeks. Then, the authorities will decide on the additional monitoring needed during the incubation period of the virus which reaches 42 days.

Butler said Australia's quarantine response went beyond the measures applied by most other countries in repatriating the cruise ship passengers, which usually required a few days of centralized quarantine followed by self-isolation at home.

The outbreak involving the Andes strain of hantavirus has led to five confirmed cases, including three deaths, according to World Health Organization (WHO) officials.

Scientists confirmed the outbreak was caused by a rare Andes virus variant of hantavirus, the only strain known to be transmissible from human to human and usually through close contact.

The WHO said the two cruise ship passengers who died had traveled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before boarding the ship.