KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Two Singapore residents who were on board the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius have reportedly been released from quarantine after testing negative for the virus.
Singapore-based CNA reported that the Communicable Diseases Agency said yesterday the men, aged 67 and 65, completed quarantine on Saturday.
“Both of them are well, and have tested negative for hantavirus, including the Andes virus, before release from quarantine,” the agency was quoted as saying.
The men had been on the MV Hondius when it left Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1, before the cruise ship later reported an outbreak of Andes hantavirus.
The two men arrived in Singapore on May 2 and May 6 respectively and were isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, where they initially tested negative.
CNA reported that they will now undergo phone surveillance for the rest of the 45-day monitoring period from their last exposure, which is the maximum incubation period for hantavirus exposure.
WHO said that, as of May 27, the MV Hondius-linked Andes hantavirus outbreak had recorded 13 cases, including three deaths.
