WHO: Dutch KLM flight attendant tests negative for Hantavirus

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on May 8 that a Dutch KLM flight attendant who had been exposed to a woman infected with hantavirus in Johannesburg tested negative for the virus.

The crew member, from Haarlem, had been admitted to Amsterdam UMC for medical observation after coming into contact with a 69-year-old Dutch woman linked to the outbreak, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

According to health authorities, the woman attempted to board a flight from Johannesburg on April 25 but was denied boarding because of her worsening health condition. She was later taken to hospital, where she died the following day.

The WHO said the woman had also been part of the same tourist group as her spouse and a German national who earlier died aboard the expedition cruise vessel MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak had previously been recorded.

On May 4, the WHO reported an outbreak of hantavirus aboard the Dutch cruise ship as it traveled across the Atlantic from Argentina to Cabo Verde. Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — died during the outbreak.

Health officials said the Andean strain of hantavirus identified in several victims can, in rare cases, spread between humans, although hantaviruses are typically transmitted through contact with infected rodents.

The WHO reiterated that the risk to the wider public remains low.

“This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” Maria Van Kerkhove told a press conference, adding that the situation was not comparable to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hantaviruses belong to a family of pathogens that can cause severe diseases affecting the lungs or kidneys and may lead to viral hemorrhagic fevers marked by blood vessel damage, systemic toxicity and bleeding complications.

By Sabina Mammadli