Woman Isolates on Pitcairn Islands After Hantavirus Cruise Ship Travel

A woman is isolating on the Pitcairn Islands, a remote British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific, after traveling on a cruise ship hit by hantavirus.

A local government spokesperson told the BBC the person "had contact with a hantavirus-exposed individual" but was "showing no signs of illness." The UK foreign office said it was "aware of an individual from the MV Hondius who has traveled on to the Pitcairn Islands." Officials said she was not a suspected case and the risk to the public was low.

The woman had flown from San Francisco on May 7 and traveled through the island of Tahiti and then Mangareva in French Polynesia, the French Polynesian government said. No details have been released about when and where she left the cruise and traveled to the US.

Three people have died after traveling on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius. Two of them were confirmed virus cases. The third had earlier developed symptoms and is believed to have been the first infected in the outbreak, but died before he could be tested.

The World Health Organization, the UN global health agency, has confirmed nine cases, with two others suspected. On Tuesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was "no sign" of a larger hantavirus outbreak after the evacuation of the last passengers from the ship a day earlier. But he warned that "the situation could change" and there could be more confirmed virus cases.

Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain, which the WHO believes some of the ship's passengers contracted in South America, is possible. Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea and shortness of breath.

The woman, who has not been publicly named, was isolating on Pitcairn, the only inhabited of the four volcanic islands of the British Overseas Territory. The British foreign office told the BBC it was coordinating with the local authorities and the UK Health Security Agency to "manage the risks to the individual and the islanders."

UKHSA said the length of isolation for close contacts of cases, which those on the ship are considered to be, is 45 days. It is not yet clear when the UK government or local authorities were made aware of the case.

Speaking to the BBC, the Pitcairn government spokesperson said: "We are working closely with the health authorities and the UK government to manage the situation. The wellbeing of our community remains the top priority."

The Pitcairn Islands has a population of about 50 people. Most of the residents are descendants of mutineers from the Royal Navy warship HMS Bounty who settled there in 1790.

Meanwhile, the French Polynesian government said the woman had transited through without notifying territorial and national authorities. Authorities held an emergency meeting on Sunday and decided not to allow the woman now isolating on Pitcairn to re-enter French Polynesia.

"Although she is currently completely asymptomatic and therefore not contagious, (she) will not leave Pitcairn Island to travel through French Polynesia as long as she poses a risk to others," it said. French Polynesia said passengers on the same flight as the woman from San Francisco to Tahiti were not considered close contacts and "the risk of infection is considered very low."

The MV Hondius had been carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries after departing from Ushuaia, southern Argentina, on April 1. A 70-year-old Dutch man was the first passenger who died on board the vessel on April 11. His 69-year-old wife left the ship on April 24 on the island of St. Helena and flew to South Africa. She died two days later in a clinic in Johannesburg. Both were confirmed cases.