WELL-PREPARED SYSTEM
Prof Tambyah said Singapore is “extremely well prepared” to handle any potential cases, pointing to its robust public health infrastructure and pandemic preparedness measures.
“We also have a well-developed laboratory infrastructure, well-trained clinicians and ample supplies of personal protective equipment, as well as a network of pandemic preparedness clinics across the island, which can spring into action in the unlikely event that we have a case or more than one case in Singapore,” he said.
Experts added that, unlike respiratory viruses such as influenza or COVID-19, hantaviruses do not spread exponentially, making large outbreaks far less likely.
If the two Singapore residents test negative, they will still be quarantined for 30 days from their last exposure and monitored for up to 45 days.
Experts said the extended period reflects a cautious approach.
“There are rare case reports of incubation periods lasting as long as six weeks after exposure to the virus. Although those have predominantly been rat-to-human transmissions, I think that the CDA is not leaving anything to chance,” said Prof Tambyah.
Professor Ooi Eng Eong from Duke-NUS Medical School noted that quarantine periods are typically set at twice the incubation period, which for Andes hantavirus is about two weeks.
TIMELINE OF CRUISE SHIP OUTBREAK
The two Singapore residents, aged 67 and 65, were on board the MV Hondius when it departed from the Argentinian port of Ushuaia on Apr 1.
On Apr 6, a 70-year-old Dutch man became sick on board with fever, headache and mild diarrhoea. Before boarding, the man and his wife, who is also Dutch, had gone sightseeing in Ushuaia, and travelled elsewhere in Argentina and Chile, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The man developed respiratory distress on Apr 11 and died on board.
His wife disembarked on Apr 24, along with more than two dozen other passengers, on the island of St Helena, a British overseas territory. The stop was the end of the cruise for some on board.
The next day, the Dutch woman, who has symptoms of illness, takes a commercial flight from St Helena to South Africa. The plane carried 88 passengers and crew members, according to the airline, although it is not clear how many other people who got off the MV Hondius took that flight.
The woman died in South Africa on Apr 26 after collapsing at an airport while trying to board another plane home.
