First positive case of hantavirus in B.C. is a low risk to public

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]Clearly, this is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for.

[00:00:06]BC's provincial health officer sharing an update on the four people who've been isolating on Vancouver Island since disembarking the cruise ship which suffered a fatal hantavirus outbreak earlier this month. One individual started to develop mild symptoms including a fever and a headache. The BCCDC public health lab reported that the test on the individual who had these mild symptoms was positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus. Dr. Bonnie Henry says the patient is in stable condition.

[00:00:37]Their partner, who was also on the ship, has developed symptoms as well, but so far they've tested negative. The couple is being treated in Victoria along with a third passenger who's being assessed and tested as a precaution. Everyone in BC should feel reassured that the systems and protocols we have in place are working.

[00:00:55]They're working as intended and the appropriate precautions are being taken every step of the way to keep people safe. It's the first recorded case in Canada of this specific variant, the Andes strain, which has triggered global concern due to its high mortality rate as well as its ability to transmit human to human. But, experts say there's no credible threat of a pandemic. This is not COVID. It's very different from COVID and and it should be understood in in in that way that the the pandemic risk of hantaviruses, you know, infinitesimally small if not non-existent. Epidemiologist Dr. Brian Conway says the main reason for that is how difficult it is to transmit the virus given that it requires a prolonged close contact with someone who has symptoms or is just on the cusp of developing them. We understand this virus. It spreads from rodents to humans.

[00:01:50]It very rarely spreads from human to human and it's only this one strain.

[00:01:56]Hantaviruses are typically found in deer mice, a species that is native to Canada. Depending on on what part of the province that you live in, that might be that, you know, one of the more dominant rodent species in an area. And so, you know, incredibly common. A different, less dangerous strain of hantavirus, the Sin Nombre variant, has actually been present in North American rodents for decades, leading to approximately 150 cases in humans across the continent.

[00:02:21]But, the Andes variant that's of concern here is isolated to South American mice, with rodent experts saying it's expected to stay there. The risk, you know, as far as that kind of spilling over into our rodent populations is is my understanding is is is, you know, it's not there.

[00:02:38]BC health officials say that besides the health care workers treating them, the patients have had no contact with the public. About a dozen cases of the Andes strain linked to the cruise ship have been identified globally, resulting in three deaths.

[00:02:53]Jack Rhabb, City News, Vancouver.