Hantavirus cruise ship passengers arrive in Perth to be quarantined in Bullsbrook for three weeks

Five Australian passengers from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship are spending three weeks in quarantine following a mammoth global repatriation effort bringing them back to home soil. Wrapped in PPE, hairnets and facemasks, one of the exhausted travellers offered a friendly wave to media camped outside the RAAF Base Pearce on Friday morning as their white minivan — escorted by WA Police — began the short trip to the nearby Centre for National Resilience. The passengers — four Australian citizens, one permanent resident and one New Zealander — touched down at the Bullsbrook airbase about 11am on Friday following a repatriation flight from the Netherlands. By 11.45am all passengers had undergone immediate health testing, had their passports stamped by Border Force officials and were on the road to the quarantine centre, located just 7km away. A second van carrying two pilots and an in-flight doctor followed a few hours later. No passengers or aircrew were showing any symptoms of the virus when they departed the Eindhoven Airport on Thursday. The flight also made a refuelling stop at Al Minhad Airbase in the United Arab Emirates before touching down in WA on Friday morning. The travellers were among 147 people aboard the MV Hondius when a rare case of the Andes strain of hantavirus was detected in Johannesburg on May 2 after a British passenger was evacuated after falling ill. The $400 million Centre for National Resilience is being tightly monitored by WA Police, with a long driveway and two sets of high-security metal fencing separating the units from the nearby community. Each of the 500 self-contained single units includes a bathroom, air conditioning, television, internet access, and a small kitchenette with a microwave and fridge. The passengers will isolate at the facility for three weeks and undergo continuous testing before an assessment is made about plans for the remainder of the 42-day incubation period. Australia’s strategy is much harsher than that of other nations, which have opted to put returning citizens into managed quarantine arrangements in either a hotel, hospital or dedicated centre for two or three days before sending them home to isolate. Staff from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, which has its headquarters in Darwin, travelled to the Bullsbrook facility earlier this week to be ready to assist with 24/7 care. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler on Friday confirmed the flight crew would not be required to isolate if all tests returned a negative result. “The protocol and the guidance from the (Centre for Disease Control) CDC and the Health Protection Committee is that if that test returns negative — and given that the crew were in full PPE for the duration of the flight — then they would not be required to be quarantined,” he said. But the turnaround for test results is takes 24 hours, with the only Australian facility able to test for the disease located in Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. “They have to be flown to Melbourne obviously, and then processed in Melbourne by the Doherty Institute. Until that test is returned, the crew will be in isolation at Bullsbrook as well,” Mr Butler said. He said the Federal Government would seek further advice from the Australian Health Protection Community chief health officers about what arrangements should take place following the three-week isolation period. The Andes hantavirus outbreak — which is primarily spread by rats but in rare cases can be transmitted between people — was first reported aboard the luxury expedition cruise ship MV Hondius in early May. It has since killed three people: a Dutch couple and a German national. The World Health Organisation this week said more cases were expected from the cluster linked to the ship, but stressed it was not comparable to COVID and did not pose a pandemic threat. Australian disease experts said authorities were taking appropriate precautions to reduce any risk of a hantavirus outbreak in the community. Deakin University inaugural epidemiology chair Professor Catherine Bennett said the passengers returning to Australia may still be incubating the virus. “It is wise to isolate them from each other, and those bringing them home,” she said. “If they test positive or develop symptoms, they can then be cared for and won’t pose a risk to others.” University of Sunshine Coast associate professor Erin Price said its only risk was through travellers because Australia did not have the specific rodent species which would lead to the virus becoming endemic. “The Federal Government’s announcement that it will enforce a three-week quarantine for the repatriated Australian and New Zealand residents and flight crew is good news, although it will likely be extended given the latency period between hantavirus exposure and symptom onset, which can be as long as eight weeks,” she said. Professor Price warned the bigger risk was from travellers who had been aboard the MV Hondius but had not yet quarantined, along with their secondary contacts. “Reports of cruise passengers travelling onward to multiple overseas locations, including one who attended a large international conference and who is still in the community, are concerning,” she said. “The window of infectious risk is about four days, and individuals can be infectious up to 48 hours before symptom onset. “The high mortality rate and long latency period mean that there will be a heightened risk of localised Andes virus outbreaks in the coming weeks and months.” A French woman aged in her 60s is reportedly on life-support in Paris after contracting the infection aboard the cruise ship. Doctors said she was in intensive care, using an artificial lung and blood bypass to relieve pressure on her heart and lungs. The woman was among five French passengers evacuated from the cruise ship and placed in isolation. Another 22 people identified as contacts remain symptom-free. In the US, 41 people are being monitored for possible infection. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said the 41 people included passengers who had returned to the US before the outbreak was identified and others who may have been exposed on flights where a symptomatic case was present. While one passenger had initially tested “mildly positive”, they had since been cleared to move to a quarantine unit with the other passengers. AMA WA President Kyle Hoath urged the community not to panic, but said it served as a reminder to stay home if you are sick. “There’s no need for public concern around the Hantavirus at this stage,” he said. In Tuesday’s Federal Budget, it was revealed the WA Centre for National Resilience a similar one near Melbourne were costing taxpayers $9.3 million, even while empty. Funding for “baseline property and care maintenance” formed part of the Finance Department’s request for an extra $92.9 million over five years. The Commonwealth-owned facility has only been used once during a bushfire evacuation since it was completed in 2022. It is the first time it is being used for its original purpose — to support returning overseas travellers needing to quarantine.