The Health Department is monitoring four people from the Western Cape, linked to the international response surrounding the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak.
Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale confirmed to Smile FM that the four individuals were passengers on the same Airlink flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg (on 25 April) as the Dutch woman who later died from hantavirus-related complications.
READ: A timeline of the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak
The Dutch woman reportedly collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport. She was due to take a connecting KLM flight back to the Netherlands, but was deemed too ill to continue with her travel.
Mohale said one of the four people from the Western Cape who were on the flight is experiencing symptoms and has been sent for laboratory testing, while contact tracing is underway. Authorities are still awaiting the test results.
Mohale said a total of 14 people on the flight are South African. The other 10 are from Gauteng. One person from Gauteng is also symptomatic, with test results also still being awaited.
In a customer notice on 6 May, Airlink confirmed that there were 82 passengers and 6 crew onboard flight 4Z 132 from St Helena to Johannesburg on 25 April.
At the time, Airlink was unaware that any of the passengers were unwell.
The airline says it was only notified on Sunday, 3 May, that the passenger from the ship had passed away after she arrived in Johannesburg and that her death was thought to be attributable to the rare Hantavirus.
Airlink says it immediately provided the Department of Health with the names, contact details and seating allocation of the passengers and crew who had been on the flight. This was to enable the health authorities to commence contact tracing.
Airlink is also contacting passengers who were on that flight and advising them to contact South Africa’s Department of Health, either by phone on +27 (0) 76 273 41 55 or by email: Pheoc@health.gov.za
During a Cabinet briefing yesterday, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said they had made contact with at least 50 of the passengers and that all passengers will be monitored for symptoms.
The incubation period for hantavirus is six weeks.
Airlink has reassured customers, stressing its fleet of Embraer aircraft is equipped with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which continually “scrub” clean the cabin air, which is constantly renewed throughout a flight.
