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Lab tests confirm first case of hantavirus in Canada
Posted May 17, 2026 11:33:44 AM.
Last Updated May 17, 2026 12:14:39 PM.
Canada has its first confirmed case of hantavirus.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says one of the four Canadians isolating in British Columbia who had been on a cruise ship where there was an outbreak has tested positive for the virus.
The national microbiology lab in Winnipeg confirmed the positive results on May 16 after the person, who is part of a couple from the Yukon who were isolating, developed “mild symptoms” on Thursday, including a fever and a headache.
A second individual who was a travelling partner of the confirmed case has tested negative, according to the lab.
“There have been no further cases identified at this time. All high-risk contacts are isolating and will continue to be monitored closely by local public health,” Canadian health officials said in a release on Sunday.
On Thursday, Canada’s chief public health officer said provincial and territorial public health authorities were asking 26 people across the country to monitor for symptoms of hantavirus even though they were deemed “low risk,” after sharing a flight with someone with the virus.
Another nine were classified as high-risk contacts and were told to isolate in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. because they were either passengers on the ship or had close contact with someone infected with hantavirus on a flight.
Until now, officials had said no one in Canada had shown symptoms of hantavirus, which has an incubation period that can last several weeks.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says the overall risk to the general population in Canada from the Andes hantavirus remains low.
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a total of 11 hantavirus cases linked to the cruise had been reported worldwide, including three deaths. The Canadian case would bring the total to 12, at least eight of which have been confirmed by laboratory tests.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
