Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is urging the public to remain calm after a woman who contracted Hantavirus died at a Johannesburg hospital, as health authorities work to trace contacts and monitor a British passenger who remains in isolation.
The female patient collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport after disembarking from a cruise ship where her husband had previously died. She had been en route to the Netherlands when she collapsed and was taken to a hospital in Kempton Park, where she later died.
According to Motsoaledi, the couple—both Dutch nationals—were traveling to Saint Helena when the 70-year-old husband fell ill and passed away upon arrival there. His wife decided she could not continue the trip and was flown to OR Tambo International Airport to travel back to the Netherlands.
A third person, a British passenger, fell ill while traveling from Saint Helena to Ascension Island. He was airlifted to South Africa and is currently in isolation in the intensive care unit at a private hospital in Sandton.
Dr. Jacqueline Weyer of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases explained that Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome initially presents with flu-like symptoms but can progress rapidly to severe respiratory illness, requiring urgent hospitalization.
“There is no suggestion of any community-wide distribution at this stage,” Weyer said. “For the man on the street, at this stage since we are at the height of our flu season, you are more likely to have flu or COVID-19 or other more common causes of respiratory tract infections.”
Weyer emphasized that Hantavirus is “not at all” like COVID-19. Most Hantavirus strains are not readily transmissible from human to human, with transmission occurring primarily through contact with rodent urine, feces, or saliva. In rare cases involving the Andes virus strain—which the travelers may have been exposed to in Argentina—limited human-to-human transmission can occur through prolonged close contact via respiratory droplets.
South Africa has recorded only one previous imported Hantavirus case—a traveler from Croatia several years ago who had a different form of the virus associated with renal syndrome. Weyer confirmed that Hantaviruses have not been found in South African rodents, and the country is not considered endemic for these viruses.
Strict infection prevention measures are in place at the hospital treating the British patient, and contact tracing is underway for those who came into contact with the confirmed cases. Any contacts showing symptoms will be isolated, tested, and managed accordingly.