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Canadian national health agency confirms 1 positive hantavirus test

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canada’s national health agency Sunday confirmed that one of four Canadians who returned home from a cruise ship hit with a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus.

The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the positive test a day after the public health officer for the province of British Columbia said the person had received a “presumptive positive” but further testing would be conducted at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

“One individual’s sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus,” the national agency said in a statement.

A second individual who was a traveling partner of the confirmed case was confirmed negative, the statement said. Both people, a couple in their 70s from the Yukon, are in a hospital in Victoria.

The four Canadian cruise passengers returned to British Columbia last Sunday. Besides the couple, there was a person in their 70s from Vancouver Island and a British Columbia person in their 50s who lives abroad.

All are in isolation.

Three people have died since the hantavirus outbreak began on the cruise ship MV Hondius. The Canadian patient is the 10th person from the ship to test positive.

Among the three who died are a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The Canadian public health agency said it is taking a precautionary approach to ensure citizens are protected.

“The overall risk to the general population in Canada from the Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship remains low at this time,” the statement said. “All confirmed cases to date have been passengers or crew on the MV Hondius cruise ship.”

The agency said it provided the information about the positive case to the World Health Organization and will share information to support the ongoing global investigation of the outbreak.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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