WHO traces 88 passengers after hantavirus-infected traveller dies after Saint Helena flight

The World Health Organization said it is tracing 88 passengers who were on a flight from the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena to Johannesburg after a fellow traveller, evacuated from a cruise ship after contracting hantavirus, later died from the rare viral disease.

The passenger had been travelling aboard a cruise vessel before boarding the flight to South Africa, according to the WHO.

Health authorities are now working to identify and contact fellow passengers and others who may have come into contact with the infected individual during the journey.

Hantavirus is a rare but potentially fatal disease typically transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents or their droppings. Human-to-human transmission is uncommon but has been documented in certain strains.