90-Second Read: Canada confirms first Hantavirus case in isolation in British Columbia

The four Canadians who had been on board the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, where the Hantavirus outbreak occurred, arrived in Victoria on 10 May, Henry said, adding that on arrival, all four of them were assessed and none of them had any symptoms. Pasteur said genomic analysis confirmed that the virus found in the French passenger matched the virus detected in other cases aboard the ship and closely resembled known Andes virus samples circulating in South America. Since 11 April, three people who were on board the cruise ship have died of suspected Hantavirus infections of Hantavirus, including a Dutch couple and a German woman.

Results from those tests were expected to be confirmed over the course of the weekend, Henry said. Out of what Henry described as "an abundance of caution", the third individual who had been isolating in the same lodging has also been transferred to hospital for monitoring. The fourth person continues to isolate at home under daily observation, she said.

Pasteur said the viruses detected in patients from the ship were identical to each other and about 97% similar to some Andes viruses circulating in South America, including those identified in rodents. Jean-Claude Manuguerra, who heads Pasteur's environment and infectious risk unit, said the remaining variation appeared to reflect natural viral variation and did not seem to affect the characteristics of the virus detected among travellers.