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A Canadian national has tested positive for hantavirus in British Columbia after disembarking a luxury cruise ship linked to an outbreak of the virus.
The tourist, who developed mild symptoms, was tested at a hospital in Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island, and is now in stable condition.
The patient is one of four Canadians currently isolating on the island after leaving the MV Hondius, a Dutch luxury cruise ship that departed Argentina on a polar expedition on 1 April.
The group comprised two couples, one from Yukon and another from British Columbia.
Officials confirmed that the positive case is from Yukon.
British Columbia’s provincial health officer, Bonnie Henry, said that the Yukon couple is being tested in BC because such services are unavailable in the northern territory.
She said that all four people had no contact with the public during their transfer from their flight to Victoria.
The Andes strain of hantavirus, identified in the outbreak on the cruise ship, can cause severe lung illness that can be fatal in up to 50 per cent of cases, according to the World Health Organization.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that are usually spread by rodents, but in rare cases can be transmitted person to person. Health authorities have said the risk of the virus spreading is low.
Three people have died after the cruise ship outbreak.
However, Professor Emma Thomson, who leads the MRC Centre for Virus Research at Glasgow University, said that it is “very, very unlikely” the situation will be “akin to the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Professor Thomson’s centre is one of only two in the UK actively researching hantavirus.
The health agency said it is working to get in touch with “a small number of individuals” who could be affected.
Prof Thomson said it “wouldn’t be very surprising if we found one or two positive tests in the UK, one or two positive people”.
This scenario would be “in keeping with other countries and what they have seen”, she added.
But the expert told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: “I would expect that that could be managed very easily with the existing facilities we have.
“It is very, very unlikely that something like this will turn into something akin to the Covid 19 pandemic.”
