HIGHLIGHTING that “Jamaica is a hub for cruise shipping”, the Ministry of Health on Wednesday sought to reassure Jamaicans that precautions are being taken by the Government to safeguard the country’s shores from the possible spread of the Hantavirus.

Responding to questions posed by journalists at a post-Cabinet press briefing about the measures in place by the Government, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie noted that while the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) assessment indicates that there is a low risk in terms of global spread, the Government has increased its vigilance.

“In terms of the WHO assessment of the situation, the current assessment is that there is a low risk in terms of global spread; however, we are taking every precaution to prevent the virus from entering our shores, particularly when it comes to the docking of cruise ships. We know that Jamaica is a hub in terms of cruise shipping, so therefore it make sense for us to improve our vigilance,” Dr Bisasor-McKenzie said.

“Certainly, public health measures include early detection, timely treatment and reduction of exposure risk. So we are exercising more vigilance in terms of cruise ships that come; usually we have a report that is sent in when the ship is on seas to notify the country that they are coming, and if there are any illnesses on board,” she added.

Highlighting that the Hantavirus is a family of viruses that causes severe illness and possibly death in humans, the CMO added that the virus leads to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and the hantavirus haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.

“We generally start out with fever, then progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock. Symptoms usually occur one to eight weeks after a person becomes contaminated and usually between two to four weeks,” she said.

She explained that when a cruise is heading into port, a maritime declaration of health report is sent to notify the country of any illnesses on board and the report is then reviewed by local health authorities before the ship docks.

“This usually is called a maritime declaration of health and that is a detailed document that is submitted and reviewed by our persons on ground, before we give permission for the ship to come into port. When the ship comes into port then there is further assessment in terms of our officers boarding the ship and ensuring that what is on the report is in fact true,” she said.

“We are going to be a lot more proactive. We have spoken to our director of environmental health to ensure that our team is properly sensitised about the matter and that we are more proactive in terms of our inspections,” she added.

Highlighting that the virus is primarily acquired through contact with urine, faeces, and saliva of infected rodents, she noted that checks were made by the Veterinary Division and the Environmental Health Division to ensure that no cases of Hantavirus are present in rodents in the country.

“It [the disease] rare but severe when it happens, and can be deadly. It is usually transmitted rodent to human. Human to human transmission is not usual; however, there is a strain, the Andes virus that is coming out of South America where there have been documented human-to-human cases,” she said.

She explained that human-to-human transmission normally occurs through close contact with respiratory droplets or saliva.

In the meantime, Dr Bisassor-McKenzie noted that while Jamaica currently does not have the capacity to test for Hantavirus, this can be done at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), based in Trinidad.

“We have spoken to them, we have transportation systems that have been strengthened recently, coming out of changes they have made at CARPHA, in terms of ensuring that we can get transport of samples to Trinidad for testing. We have also been in discussion with PAHO, and we are looking at other collaborating centres,” she said.

There are currently eight known cases of hantavirus, three confirmed and five suspected from passengers on board the MV Hondius cruise ship currently anchored off the coast of West Africa.

Three people have died in the suspected outbreak.