Canadian isolating in B.C. tests “presumptive positive” for hantavirus

CITYnews halifax/ By Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press

British Columbia’s provincial health officer says one of the four Canadians isolating in the province who had been on a cruise ship where there was a hantavirus outbreak has received a “presumptive positive” test.

Dr. Bonnie Henry told a news conference Saturday that the person is part of a couple from the Yukon who were isolating and developed “mild symptoms” on Thursday including a fever and a headache.

She said protocols were followed, bringing both of the couple to a hospital in Victoria, and that late Friday evening tests on the individual who had the mild symptoms came back positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus.

The other person had “minor symptoms” when they were assessed, but tested negative, she said.

Henry said samples have been sent to a national microbiology lab in Winnipeg for the tests to be confirmed.

“The patient (who tested positive) is stable, the symptoms remain mild at this point, and they are still in hospital in isolation, being monitored and receiving care as needed by the health-care worker team in the hospital,” Henry said.

On Thursday, Canada’s chief public health officer said provincial and territorial public health authorities were asking 26 people across the country to monitor for symptoms of hantavirus even though they were deemed “low risk,” after sharing a flight with someone with the virus.

Another nine were classified as high-risk contacts and were told to isolate in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. because they were either passengers on the ship or had close contact with someone infected with hantavirus on a flight.

Until now, officials had said no one in Canada had shown symptoms of hantavirus, which has an incubation period that can last several weeks.

Henry said out of an abundance of caution, a third cruise passenger who was in isolation in B.C. has been transferred to hospital for assessment and testing, while the fourth person remains isolating at home.

The government has previously said the four people are the couple in their 70s from the Yukon, a person in their 70s from Vancouver Island, and a person from B.C. in their 50s who lives abroad.

Dr. Reka Gustafson, chief medical health officer for the Island Health Authority, said the patients in hospital are in negative pressure rooms and that the two hospitals are prepared.

Henry said the province had infection control precautions in place from the moment the cruise passengers arrived in British Columbia,

“I’m confident there’s no additional risk to anybody else outside of the people who’ve been caring for these individuals,” she said.

“They have no contact with the public, and health-care workers are using well-established protocols that they know well, that are able to protect them, to protect the other patients in the health-care facility, and visitors as well.”

A statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada says the overall risk to the general population in Canada from the Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship remains low.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a total of 11 hantavirus cases linked to the cruise had been reported worldwide, including three deaths. The Canadian case would bring the total to 12, at least eight of which have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

The four people sent to B.C. were flown to Victoria last week and were isolating on Vancouver Island for a minimum of 21 days.

Henry said Saturday that officials are considering how long they will have to isolate.

“But make no mistake, we will be following these four individuals daily, actively, for at least 42 days,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2026.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press