Health officials sought to calm public fears at Wednesday’s health portfolio committee, reassuring that South Africa’s rats do not carry Andes hantavirus.
They emphasised that despite the country’s rat problem, the specific threat of this virus is non-existent because it is largely endemic to the Americas.
“We do have a major rodent problem. So it’s important to clarify that even though there has been limited testing of rodents in Southern Africa and Africa, we do not have hantavirus in this part of the world,” said Dr Lucille Blumberg, head of the National Institute For Communicable Diseases (NCID).
Low-risk transmission between people
There is a low risk that the outbreak will turn into a national health emergency in South Africa because the Andes strain, positively detected in the three cases, is one of 38 strains that cause rare human-to-human transmission through extremely close contact, Motsoaledi briefed members.
As of 4 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) had categorised the global threat level of this specific outbreak as “low”. Current data indicates there are seven confirmed cases, five suspected cases, and three total fatalities. While one patient remains in critical condition, three others are currently reporting only mild symptoms.
‘Why did South Africa allow symptomatic passengers to enter our domestic space?’
This is what Naledi Chirwa from EFF asked Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Wednesday, criticising the effectiveness of South Africa’s border health security.
“We are concerned on how did South Africa’s surveillances let infected travellers enter South Africa without full containment protocols especially after the lessons that we learnt…during the Covid outbreak,” Chirwa probed.
“Other countries are able to institute preventive measures but as always South Africa is always reactive,” she said.
Motsoaledi dismissed the rhetoric, asserting that official proper protocols were maintained given the circumstances under which the infection was detected.
“It cannot be said that South Africa’s safety mechanisms were so relaxed that they just allowed people in without screening.
“Our health professionals are trained to anticipate individuals who have suspected diseases like with the individuals being treated in Johannesburg.”
He added: “We are talking of one person here by the way. One person. She was travelling back home via OR Tambo, not visiting South Africa.”
‘She’ refers to the second fatality involving the wife of the Dutch passenger, who sought to return to the Netherlands following her husband’s death from hantavirus.
Although Motsoaledi noted she did not appear ill when she departed the tour, she fell ill and collapsed while transiting through OR Tambo (ORT) International Airport. She was then transported to a hospital in Kempton Park, where she passed away.
“Just remember that patients don’t come and say ‘I’m part of an outbreak’”, Blumberg told the committee.
Blumberg also explained that, “We know that the later stages of the illness progress very rapidly. Because the early symptoms are non-specific, patients can appear fine until they suddenly collapse, which is exactly what happened to her.”
Contact-tracing still happening
Michele Clark, National Assembly whip of the DA, raised the issue of the transmission of hantavirus from those in contact with the infected.
Blumberg reiterated that contact-tracing began before officials diagnosed the deceased with hantavirus.
“We did identify contacts and start contact-tracing already on Saturday, 2 May, even though by then we didn’t know what it was.
So all the names of the people who were involved at OR Tambo, those at the hospital close to the airport of case 2 and all of those who either transported the patient or admitted the patient in case 3 were put on a list and we’ve started monitoring for fever, temperature.”
She said that is in progress and working quite well. The incubation period is 6 weeks and they will have to be monitored, she added.
42 of 62 possible contacts have already been traced and are being monitored.
“What we will do now is identify who is a high risk and decide what we’re going to do. But it’s rarely easily spread from person to person.
“So hantavirus is extremely rare to move person-to-person but as we see with this outbreak, that is a possibility,” said Blumberg.
The cruise ship and hantavirus
Hantavirus is the exposure to the boldly fluids of rodents such as urine and faeces.
The initial outbreak was linked to the MV Hondius, a cruise ship carrying 147 individuals from 23 different nations during a voyage from Argentina to Cape Verde.
The health presentation revealed that the vessel’s itinerary included several stops across the South Atlantic, such as St. Helena, the Falkland Islands, and Antarctica.
The first suspected victim was an elderly Dutch man who began showing symptoms like fever and headache on April 6. His condition deteriorated into respiratory distress, and he passed away on board on April 11 without undergoing microbiological testing.
Following the initial death, the man’s wife also passed away. Though she appeared relatively healthy when she left the tour group to return to the Netherlands, she fell ill and collapsed while transiting through OR Tambo International Airport. She was rushed to a hospital in Kempton Park but died on 26 April 26.
A third case involved a British man who was evacuated from Ascension Island to South Africa on 27 April after developing pneumonia-like symptoms.
Lab results confirmed he had hantavirus on 2 May, which led authorities to retroactively test the blood of the Dutch woman who had collapsed at the airport. Her results also came back positive.
Currently, the British patient is being treated at a private facility in Johannesburg and is in stable condition.
