British man detained in Milan for 42-day Pitcairn Island quarantine
A British man in his 60s was detained in Milan and ordered into a 42-day quarantine after authorities linked him to a flight with Mirjam Schilperoord, who later died from hantavirus. The pair were taken to Sacco Hospital and told to remain isolated until June 6. The case now links a new detention in Italy to an outbreak that began on the MV Hondius and has reached beyond the ship.
Milan quarantine and Sacco Hospital
Authorities located the man at a bar in Milan, Italy, and took him with his companion to Sacco Hospital. They were told to segregate for a 42-day isolation period even though they showed no symptoms before testing negative for the disease. The order runs until June 6, turning a suspected exposure into a forced travel disruption for two people who had been moving through international transit.
Mirjam Schilperoord's flight
Mirjam Schilperoord traveled from Saint Helena to Johannesburg on the same Airlink flight as the British man. She later died on April 26 after being denied clearance to travel on a KLM flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam and being rushed to hospital in South Africa. The British man was on that flight with her, and the detainment in Milan followed the link authorities drew to that exposure.
MV Hondius outbreak spread
The outbreak was first confirmed on board the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius last month. So far, 11 cruise passengers have contracted the disease, and three deaths have been reported in total. Leo and Mirjam Schilperoord, both from Haulerwijk in the Netherlands, had visited a landfill site four miles outside Ushuaia on March 27 before sailing on April 1 with 112 other passengers. Leo Schilperoord reported fever, headache, stomach pain and diarrhoea by April 6, died five days later, and his body remained on board until the ship docked in St Helena on April 24.
World Health Organisation warning
At a Madrid press conference on Tuesday, WHO chief Dr Tedros said: "At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak, but of course the situation could change and, given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks." That leaves the outbreak response focused on travelers already exposed rather than any wider spread that has not appeared in the available figures.
