What you need to know about Hantavirus in Ontario as 2 cruise ship passengers return home

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Two Ontario residents who were on a cruise ship that’s been hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are currently in isolation but are not believed to be at risk of transmitting the virus, Health Minister Sylvia Jones says.

• LIVE UPDATES: 3 Canadians isolating following hantavirus outbreak on cruise

Jones made the comment during an unrelated news conference on Thursday afternoon, hours after it was revealed that two Ontario residents who were on board MV Hondius had returned home.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said a third affected Canadian was in Quebec and is also in isolation.

“The two individuals are in fact Ontario residents and they are actively being monitored and working with local public health authorities on a daily basis to make sure the isolation is occurring. That has been going on since they returned home,” Jones said.

Anand has said that all three effected Canadians are asymptomatic at this point.

However, public health experts have previously said that it can take up to a month to develop symptoms after exposure to the hantavirus.

Jones said that she anticipates that the monitoring period for any Ontarians potentially exposed will be around 30 days as a result, though she said that the situation is “fluid.”

“We are getting regular updates on not only these two individuals but preparing to see if there are any other individuals who could perhaps return to Canada and Ontario,” she said.

So far, eight cases of hantavirus have been reported among the 149 passengers on the cruise ship outbreak, three of which have resulted in death.

History of hantavirus in Ontario

Speaking with CP24 on Thursday afternoon, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Michelle Murti said that the largely rodent-borne virus is extremely rare in Ontario.

In fact, she said that the province hasn’t seen a case “in the last 10 years.”

“Most cases in Canada typically occur in some other provinces, in B.C., Manitoba and Quebec. But even then, we’ve only had 109 cases since 1989,”: she said.

Murti said hantavirus is generally rare and not something most Ontarians encounter.

She said that it is most commonly spread through “exposure to rats,” either directly or through their urine or feces.

But she said the strain connected to the cruise ship appears different.

“This strain that we’re seeing that has unfortunately affected the individuals on the cruise ship is different in that it can sometimes cause person-to-person spread,” she said.

Murti said situations like this are part of public health’s regular work, even when the threat to the wider public is limited.

“What I can say is that this is the day-to-day work of public health, to be working with our provincial, national and international partners to make sure that we’re following the best practices around infection control,” she said.

She added that exposed individuals are being monitored so they can quickly receive care if symptoms develop.

“I think that the main issue is this is still a very rare illness,” Murti noted. “But in general, the risk (to residents in Ontario) is very low.”