The hantavirus alarm continues to rise, despite WHO reassurances. Yesterday, three more infections were confirmed among passengers disembarked from the outbreak ship Hondius , which has now departed for the Netherlands. Twelve employees at a Dutch hospital treating a positive case have been quarantined following procedural errors in handling urine and blood. Two flights carrying 28 evacuees from the Hondius also landed in the Netherlands last night.
Italy is also on high alert, with two seafarers quarantined in Campania and Calabria . The two, a 24-year-old from Torre del Greco and a 25-year-old from Calabria, were among the four passengers, now in Italy, on the KLM flight carrying a woman who later died from hantavirus. A woman from Florence is also in isolation and will complete her observation period on June 8th, while in Padua, a 50-year-old South African doctor who had been in isolation has tested negative for hantavirus.
Meanwhile, while Health Minister Schillaci reassured while speaking of "maximum caution," the ministry has issued a circular with recommended measures in the event of new cases being identified. It includes guidelines on contact tracing, active surveillance, and possible mandatory isolation. High-risk contacts will be quarantined for six weeks, monitored daily by health authorities, and isolated if symptoms appear . The circular also indicates that testing is prioritized for symptomatic individuals and emphasizes the crucial role of the Maritime, Air, and Border Health Offices (USMAF) in limiting the introduction and spread of infectious diseases within the country, including increased controls on ships and aircraft.
Mandatory quarantine hasn't been imposed since the Covid era: the state of emergency ended in Italy on April 1, 2022, freeing close contacts of positive cases from quarantine.
Meanwhile, Farmindustria President Marcello Cattani explains that the path to developing a Hantavirus vaccine "is absolutely feasible, but we are confident that it won't be necessary, because the current outbreak won't become an epidemic or pandemic."
(Unioneonline)