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Hantavirus-hit cruise ship on way to Canary Islands after three evacuated
Two people in a serious condition who were evacuated from a cruise ship with a confirmed outbreak of deadly hantavirus have arrived in the Netherlands for treatment, operator Oceanwide Expeditions has said.
A third passenger in a stable condition was on board an evacuation flight that has been delayed, the operator added.
The MV Hondius is now sailing towards Spain’s Canary Islands after being anchored for three days near Cape Verde, an archipelago nation off the West African coast.
The three evacuees were British, Dutch and German. Oceanwide Expeditions said the 65-year-old German evacuee was “closely associated” with a German woman who died on board the ship on 2 May.
The British evacuee has been identified by several media outlets as 56-year-old ex-police officer Martin Anstee, who is understood to be in a “stable condition” in the Netherlands.
A 41-year-old Dutch crew member is also among those who have been evacuated.
Separately, Dutch media reported on Thursday that a KLM flight attendant had been admitted to hospital in Amsterdam with hantavirus symptoms.
The stewardess reportedly came into contact with a 69-year-old Dutch woman after she was briefly on board a KLM plane in South Africa but was deemed too ill to fly.
The 69-year-old later died, and her death is being investigated as a suspected hantavirus case by South African health authorities.
Three people who were aboard the ship have died since it set sail from Argentina a month ago.
Meanwhile, two US states have confirmed to the BBC that they are monitoring three passengers who had returned to the US after disembarking earlier. All are currently not displaying symptoms.
Georgia’s public health department said two residents were being monitored and were in good health, showing no signs of infection.
Arizona’s health department said one resident was being monitored, but was not symptomatic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also confirmed a man who had travelled back to Switzerland after disembarking the ship tested positive for hantavirus and is receiving care at a hospital in Zurich.
“The patient had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
A total of 146 people from 23 different countries remain aboard the MV Hondius under “strict precautionary measures”, Oceanwide Expeditions said.
In its latest update, the World Health Organization (WHO) said eight cases of hantavirus – three confirmed and five suspected – have so far been identified in people who were on the ship.
South African health authorities have said the Andes strain of hantavirus – prominent in Latin America, where the cruise originated – was found in two of the confirmed patients after tests were carried out by the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Experts have observed the Andes strain spreading between human patients in previous outbreaks. South Africa says efforts to trace all contacts remain underway.
Officials have said that one of the deceased had the virus, while the other two deaths are under investigation.
The three deaths on board include the 69-year-old Dutch woman who left the MV Hondius when it stopped at the island of St Helena on 24 April. Her husband died on board on 11 April, but is not a confirmed case.
The Dutch woman travelled to South Africa, where she died on 26 April. WHO official Dr Maria Van Kerkhove told the BBC that health experts were carrying out contact tracing on the flight she took.
KLM Airlines on Wednesday issued an advisory saying the woman had also briefly been aboard one of their flights from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on 25 April before the crew decided not to let her fly due to her medical condition.
The third fatality – a German woman – is not a confirmed case either. Her body remains on the ship.
None of the three people who were medically evacuated on Wednesday have tested positive for hantavirus so far, but two are showing symptoms.
It comes as the UK’s Health Security Agency said two British people were self-isolating at home in the UK after potential exposure tothe virus on the ship. They left the vessel earlier in its journey and did not have symptoms.
On board, there were 19 passengers and four crew members listed as British, according to figures released by Oceanwide Expeditions on Tuesday.
This included Anstee, who was evacuated on Wednesday.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents, but health experts believe that in this case, it may have passed between humans who were in close contact.
Testing to confirm whether other people on the ship have contracted the virus is ongoing. Health officials have stressed that the risk of transmission to the wider public is low.
The vessel had been anchored near Cape Verde before it set off towards the Canary Islands on Wednesday.
Spanish authorities agreed to the move, but the Canary Islands’ president has opposed the plan.
“I cannot allow [the boat] to enter the Canaries,” Fernando Clavijo told Spain’s Onda Cero radio. “This decision is not based on any technical criteria and nor have we been given enough information.”
Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García said that everyone on board will undergo a medical assessment when they arrive in Tenerife and, if fit to travel, those from abroad will be repatriated to their home countries.
Spaniards will be sent to a defence hospital in Madrid to quarantine.
The evacuation would “avoid contact” with Canary Island citizens and there would be “no risk” to them when it arrives in Tenerife in the coming days, Garcia said.
Dr Van Kerkhove said the way hantavirus is transmitted “is very different than COVID and flu”.
“We’re not talking about casual contact from very far away from one another,” she said, but “really physical contact”.
[BBC]
Pakistan were bowled out for 55, their lowest total in T20I cricke. A collapse where they lost six wickets for eight runs in 29 balls set them so far back that they couldn’t even bat out 20 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur, who broke new ground by becoming the first player – male or female – to lead her team 150 times in T20Is, had the time of her life celebrating each wicket and eventually scoring the winning runs as well.
Shree Charani shines
Old-fashioned left-arm spin is having a resurgence. India men have found Manav Suthar. India women already had N Shree Charanin. The No. 1-ranked T20I bowler in the world picked up two wickets in her first over on Saturday.
The flight on the ball drew Gull Feroza out of her crease. The drift in had her looking leg side. The dip and the turn resulted in a leading edge and a simple catch to point. The bowler did everything right. The batter did everything wrong. Shawaal Zulfiqar was the only Pakistan batter to put any kind of pressure on India. Charani had her lbw for 14 off 14 and from there it was a procession.
Pakistan’s batting troubles
Playing their 200th T20I, Pakistan went from 27 for 0 to 35 for 6 before the innings was halfway done. They could not find a risk-free way to score runs, absorbing long periods of dot balls and trying to get out of it by playing low-percentage shots, often against the turn, on a Dubai pitch that was offering plenty of it. Only the openers got to double digits and only Zulfiqar was able to score a run a ball.
Rawat’s support act
Prema Rawat finished with figures of 4-0-9-3. Nineteen of her 24 balls were dots. All of that is remarkable considering she is a legspinner, whose release points tend to be just shy of the perpendicular. Like Shane Warne. From there, they turn their wrist over and it can either be awesome or awful. Rawat’s release point is perpendicular, maybe even beyond it, like Rashid Khan’s. And she doesn’t turn her wrist. For the most part, she just flicks the ball out the front of her hand. This gives her better control at the cost of big turn and in T20Is, that trade-off is well worth it. Nobody could hit Rawat off her line and length and when Sadaf Shamas tried, she got bowled off her pads.
A simple enough chase
Scores:
India Women 57 for 3 in 8.4 overs (Shafali Verma 12, Harmanpreet Kaur 18*, Deepti Sharma 12*; Fatima Sana 3-17) beat Pakistan Women in 18.1 overs 55 (Muneesha Ali 13, Shawal Zulfiqar 14, Shafali Verma 1-10, Shree Charani 3-07, Deepti Sharma 2-05, Prema Rawat 3-09) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
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Sun directly overhead Bentota, Thiniyawala, Iththakanda, Udawalawe, and Kataragama about 12.08 noon t9day (06)
The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from 28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.
The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is
overhead today (06) are Bentota, Thiniyawala, Iththakanda, Udawalawe, and Kataragama about 12.08 noon
Rumesh Tharanga created history in emphatic fashion, winning the men’s javelin at the Diamond League Final in Brussels to become the country’s first Diamond League champion.
The recently crowned Commonwealth champion sealed the prestigious Diamond Trophy with a superb third-round throw of 89.04 metres, producing yet another major performance on the biggest stage.
Tharanga became the first Sri Lakan to win a top position at a global competition conducted under the auspice of World Athletics.
The victory also extended Tharanga’s extraordinary run of form, giving him his 12th victory in his last 13 competitions. His only defeat during that sequence came earlier in the season, underlining the consistency that has made him one of the outstanding performers in world javelin this year.
Tharanga’s winning effort was enough to keep a determined international field at bay, with Poland’s Dawid Wegner producing a lifetime best of 87.47m to take the silver medal. Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott completed the podium in third place.
Shree Charani, Prema Rawat spin Pakistan out for 55 in one-sided contest
Sun directly overhead Bentota, Thiniyawala, Iththakanda, Udawalawe, and Kataragama about 12.08 noon t9day (06)
Showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Uva and Eastern provinces.
Tharanga creates history with Diamond League crown in Brussels
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