90 people monitored for Hantavirus in SA: Motsoaledi

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Well, the cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak has docked in the Canary Islands where passengers have now disembarked. The World Health Organization says the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship doesn't risk triggering the next pandemic. Three passengers have died, six people have contracted the virus, and another two are suspected cases. Hantavirus is a rare infection typically spread through contact with infected rodent droppings or inhaling contaminated dust. For more on this matter, we are now joined by the Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi. Um Minister, always a pleasure. Thank you very, very much uh for joining us here on the program.

[00:00:45]Thank you very much, Leanne. Thank you for having me. So, Minister, let's begin here. The uh what extent is the uh WHO assisting South Africa? And perhaps what information has been shared about other cases aboard the uh the the the the cruise ship where this is going to help local contact tracers?

[00:01:05]We work with them every day.

[00:01:08]The contact tracers in South Africa are conducted by the Department of Health, the regional representative of In other words, South African representative of the World Health Organization, as well as the the NICD. We're all working together in this and uh as far as information from the World Health Organization. Remember that here in South Africa, we're dealing with five cases, but there were three others which the World Health Organization is dealing with with their own countries.

[00:01:41]So, obviously the outbreak has raised concern internationally because the strain involved is the Andes hantavirus strain. This is one of the few strains that's capable um of of spreading from human to human. This contact tracing that's that's currently underway, How many individuals are being monitored and have you managed to particularly find everyone that was on that flight because I know that that was quite the mission is to find everyone that was on that Airlink flight that transported the the the lady who actually unfortunately passed away after that.

[00:02:17]Indeed Leanne, the N is is is the only one out of the 38 known strains is the only one that is capable of human to human. All the others have not found to be like that. So having said so, we we are concerned Leanne about contacts whether it's from the plane, from the ambulance, health workers, etc. They are all equally contacts. And up to so far we've identified 97 contacts. 92 of whom have been reached already and advised and they are being watched and we'll watch them for for for the whole 6 weeks. Four of the contacts out of these 90 that have been reached are in the Western Cape, 86 are in Gauteng and we're following them up. Only one of the contacts in the Western Cape developed some form of symptoms but remember the hantavirus initial symptoms are flu-like. So she developed those flu-like symptoms, she was taken into hospital. Up until Friday the her results were negative when tested for hantavirus. So she's still being observed. She's the only one who is showing symptoms but as we emphasize, the symptoms are flu-like and this is winter. Not everybody that shows flu-like symptoms can be attributable to to hantavirus.

[00:03:41]So when we talk about hantavirus and it's spread, we've been told and we're running this in the news by the WHO that this is absolutely not like COVID-19 and it doesn't spread as easily. It isn't one that, you know, you you walk past somebody. It's an airborne uh virus that spreads from person to person. This actually entails you having quite intimate contact with somebody.

[00:04:04]Somebody that you're with quite quite closely.

[00:04:08]However, this contact tracing, I mean, this involves everyone, as you said, that was on the flight, anyone that was in her company, or anything like that.

[00:04:16]So, is this just precautionary measures that perhaps maybe it is spread a lot easier than we suspect?

[00:04:25]No, you indicate it definitely nothing like COVID. Nothing at all. It is spread by rodents, rats, and mice. When you come into contact with their excreta, like urine, like their droppings, and even their saliva. That's when you get it. If there is a person-to-person spread, I mean, if there's a animal-to-person spread, which is called as zoonosis, uh then, once it arrives in human being, you've got to be at very very very close contact with that person. Unlike in COVID, very close contact for you to contact contract a what you call hantavirus. That is why, as you know, the first people who first two people who died is husband and wife.

[00:05:12]Remember the first case ever is the gentleman who died on St. Helena Island. And the second who died is the lady who, while trying to fly home, back to Holland, because she has already lost her husband, died here in South Africa. Those were very known to be very very close contact.

[00:05:33]Uh so, definitely, we are just taking precautions in terms of the International Health Regulations.

[00:05:40]The International Health Regulations were passed by the World Health Assembly in in in in in 2005 specifically to make sure that once there is a a contagious disease somewhere in the world, it it gets confined to that geographic area. So, they've got protocols of what you must do when such a thing happened, and all countries have to observe the protocols. That's what we are doing That's what we are doing.

[00:06:08]>> Yeah. If we look globally, um Minister, how many numbers are we looking at right now because uh in the introduction I was saying literally a handful of cases, but it appears that there are more and more cases that are being confirmed. Do Do we have a number as of this morning as to uh the the extent of the infections globally?

[00:06:28]As far as we know, the only people who identified because of being close contact and having symptoms were eight as far as we know to in total. We do not know yet how many people were traced internationally because the World Health Organization is tracing people, especially in the UK.

[00:06:50]Uh I mean in especially in Netherlands where the ship comes from, where the some of the disease were coming from.

[00:06:57]They're also doing it in the UK because the gentleman in Santen is from the UK.

[00:07:02]They are also doing it in Germany because the 81-year-old lady who died without being tested, by the way, she died when the ship arrived in Cape Verde is from Germany. Yeah.

[00:07:15]The gentleman >> doing all those contacts there. We don't know their numbers, but we know ours that for those who we regard as South African contacts are 97, and 90 of them have been reached, and out of that 94 are in the Western Cape.

[00:07:30]86 are here in Gauteng. All right, thank you. Thanks again for that, Minister.

[00:07:35]Minister, in terms of the the gentleman we we we you referred to as being from the UK that's in the in a cent in a hospital. What is this condition like? How is How is he doing?

[00:07:48]Well, the last time I checked was that he's definitely stable. But remember, Leanne, we are not talking here of an ordinary person. He's an elderly person who has got comorbidities, unfortunately. It's not that he only got hantavirus. He had several comorbidities. That's why when he presented with pneumonia, doctors were not surprised because they are used to elderly people coming up with comorbidities and getting infections like pneumonia, etc. They were not surprised. At that time, they did not even know that it's hantavirus. It's only when the NICD entered the fray because that's their specialty. When we contacted the National Institute of Communicable Diseases asking them to go to the private hospital, that they advised them to do a viral screen, and that's when they found the hantavirus. But otherwise, all these others, they were dealing with something which they believe we see all the time.

[00:08:46]An elderly person with comorbidities.

[00:08:48]So, if he has got comorbidities, he's not really going to behave like a young, healthy person when when get he gets the hantavirus.

[00:08:57]Yeah. Yeah. And that's And And that's a fact. I mean, I think any elderly person, even with a flu, I think one one has to take immense care.

[00:09:06]It's quite interesting that you're able to detect this very quickly, and I'm I'm I'm referring to you speaking earlier that you actually tested one of the people that were on the plane, and they obviously came out negative for hantavirus. How accessible are our tests and rapid testing and diagnosis of hantavirus here in South Africa in terms of of getting them getting the tests and and getting the result?

[00:09:33]Leanne, not only hantavirus, any infectious disease.

[00:09:38]The NICD, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, is a world-class institution, which is recognized by the World Health Organization. It's a BLS4 S4 laboratory. Biosafety laboratory level four. It's called BSL4. BSL4 laboratories land in the whole world.

[00:10:02]There are only 51.

[00:10:04]27 of them are found in Europe, 13 in the US. Here on the African continent, there are only two. One is in Egypt, and the second one is in South Africa.

[00:10:16]That's the NICD. It can diagnose any infectious disease. It's not only about Hantavirus. When they say you are a BSL4 laboratory, you are allowed internationally to deal with the most deadly pathogens, like Ebola, like Marburg virus, hemorrhagic fever, Lassa fever. They don't deal with ordinary things. Even the time when smallpox was still there, they would be allowed to deal with it. So, the most deadly viruses can be diagnosed there.

[00:10:47]Not any laboratory is allowed to do that. For instance, there are many BSL1s, BSL2s, and BSL3. They won't be allowed to do something like that. But the NICD can do it. Even during the time of Ebola in when it was in West Africa, all the Southern countries came here. I hosted them. They were coming to complain to us that if Ebola comes to their country, they won't know how to diagnose it. They rely on South Africa.

[00:11:14]So, we worked out on protocols on how we are going to help them. So, it's not only Hantavirus. The NICD, as long as it's an infectious disease, they will be able to diagnose it. Yeah. Minister, there's a lot of misinformation out there. We do know this, and and you know, the moment you you open any form of social media, there's a whole bunch of information that jumps out at you in your face and and and you really have to take what you read with a pinch of salt and and and go to the relevant sources and actually get that proper information for yourself. For instance, um there was some news doing the rounds about an outbreak in the Eastern Cape at one of the hospitals there. Um and uh also the other talk about the actual uh rats themselves. And you yourself came out and said, "Hang on a second. South African rats don't carry the hantavirus." How do you know that? That was the most That was the question everyone was asking. How does the minister know our rats don't have it?

[00:12:11]Leanne, our scientists are doing research every day. They don't wait for outbreaks. When they go to work, their work is to research. And I'm repeating again, we have got some of the world's respected institutions here in South Africa, even though we undermine ourselves. For instance, everybody undermine public health uh uh doesn't know they don't know that actually some of the things happening in public health, like in NICD, are world class and world recognized. So, our scientists know that. We did ask scientists. I personally asked them, several of them at NICD, and they said they don't know anywhere on the African continent where a hantavirus was ever found in rats. So, this is done through research.

[00:13:00]Leanne, it's not something that we are just guessing. That's why we are able to give answers so quickly. But, uh uh you know social media. You know even during COVID, I know it very well. Well, I'm I'm very proud of our rats then.

[00:13:12]Thank goodness we don't have that to to worry about, Minister. Minister, just finally, obviously the the incubation period is long. We We've been warned about this. It can take six, perhaps even eight weeks. Um again, as as I let you go, please, would you just give us things that people should look out for.

[00:13:29]Um I suppose it's difficult cuz it's flu symptoms, but is there anything else that we should really be be wary of?

[00:13:38]Well, look, apart from flu symptoms, it's going to be very difficult. And we can't tell the whole country, Leanne, that anybody who gets these flu-like symptoms must rush to hospitals and clinics. I'm sure they will be full to capacity. Even me today, this morning, I do have something which I can call flu-like. It's always like that in winter. So, what we are doing, we are really monitoring for them. These 90 people we have already identified. By the way, we are still trying to follow the the last seven, but the nine we have identified, we follow them every day, ask them how they are feeling, and try to assess whether what they are feeling means they must go into the nearest center and get tested. So, we are going to keep up with them in that manner for for the past I mean, for the next six weeks. And by the way, Leanne, after the International Health Regulations were were passed in 2005, the World Health Organization demanded that each country must establish what they call a focal person, must rather appoint appoint a person they call a focal person. It's called an IHR focal person, International Health Regulations focal person. Those people are there in every country. We have got one in South Africa for a long time. And the World Health Organization quite frequently contact them to ask them questions. They have got a WhatsApp group that they are sharing, they ask what's happening, etc. So, most of them do know what actually is happening around the world. All right, Minister, I have to leave it there. I thank you so much for your time. And that was our health minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi speaking about hantavirus contact [music] tracing efforts that are underway. Seven still missing that need to be contacted. So, if you were on that flight, please >> [music] >> make yourself available to the department. All right.