Australians from hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrive home to quarantine

SYDNEY, May 15 (Reuters) – Australian citizens who were on a Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak returned home on Friday and will isolate for at least three weeks at a quarantine facility.

Four Australian citizens, a permanent resident and one resident of New Zealand landed at an Australian air force base near Perth in Western Australia on a government-chartered flight, local media reported.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said all members of the group had tested negative and did not display symptoms of the virus before they boarded the flight in the Netherlands.

“They will be transported immediately to the quarantine facility that’s effectively next door, and they will be tested again,” Butler told Sky News.

Eleven passengers on the MV Hondius have contracted the virus and three have died, according to the World Health Organization.

The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine for all passengers and health experts have urged calm, noting the virus is far less contagious than COVID-19 and poses little risk to the wider public.

The hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents but can, in rare cases, be transmitted between people. It typically begins with flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and fever, one to eight weeks after exposure, according to the WHO.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)