Following the four suspected cases of hantavirus on a KLM flight, investigations are underway on an Argentine tourist hospitalized for pneumonia in Messina after arriving in Italy on April 30 on a Buenos Aires-Rome flight. A hantavirus test was performed, and the sample was transported by the NAS to the Spallanzani hospital in Rome, where it will be analyzed along with the sample taken from the 25-year-old Calabrian, who is currently in self-isolation. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health, assuring that it "will continue to provide timely and transparent information on the evolving situation," announced that it has located a tourist at risk in Milan who is now in hospital quarantine. This British citizen is considered a "contact" because he traveled on the St. Helena-Johannesburg flight on which the wife of the first victim was traveling.

Italy received the report from the British government , and the Ministry of Health, with the support of the Ministry of the Interior, tracked him down and contacted the Lombardy Region, which immediately took action. The tourist was transported to Milan's Sacco Hospital for quarantine, in accordance with yesterday's ministerial circular. Another person traveling with him was also transported to Sacco Hospital as a precaution. Meanwhile, the case of the 25-year-old Calabrian man in quarantine was transferred yesterday to the Spallanzani Hospital , but only through the biological samples that will be analyzed by the institute's laboratories in Rome. For the sailor, after initial talk of a possible transfer of the young man to the capital, a clarification was received: he will remain where he is. Only the materials needed to test for a possible positive hantavirus test will arrive in Rome.

"There was a misunderstanding among the doctors in the hospital's communication. Only the samples will arrive," explained Lazio Region President Francesco Rocca. The 25-year-old, a seafarer from Villa San Giovanni, was one of the passengers on the flight from Johannesburg, which also included the 69-year-old woman who later died after being removed from the plane before takeoff . The young man, in isolation for days, is being constantly monitored by health authorities. "Federico is fine," said Villa San Giovanni Mayor Giusy Caminiti. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has alerted all local authorities. In addition to the quarantine, the circular issued in the last few hours emphasizes the role of maritime, air, and border health offices, which are urged to pay "particular attention" to suspicious health events on planes and ships.

The guidelines call for the prompt reporting of any cases and the activation of risk assessment procedures . "With the circular, we have reiterated existing measures and raised the alert level, precisely because the ministry has acted with the utmost caution," said Mara Campitiello, director of prevention at the Ministry of Health. "With the circular, we have effectively alerted the Maritime, Air, and Border Health Offices (USMAF)," she specified. Regarding the monitoring of suspected infections, in addition to the Calabrian case, attention is also focused on other contacts considered at risk. In Veneto, however, reassuring news has arrived: the South African patient being held in self-isolation has tested negative for hantavirus , also conducted by the Spallanzani Institute. The seafarer from Torre del Greco, also in self-quarantine after traveling on the same plane, remains under observation. The ASL Napoli 3 Sud (Naples 3 South Local Health Authority) reports that the young man "is well and shows no symptoms attributable to hantavirus." Tests are being carried out daily, but at this time, no swab tests have been ordered by national authorities because the clinical picture does not appear to be of concern.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health remains vigilant. However, Giacomo Scalzo, director general of the Sicilian Department for Health Activities and Epidemiological Observatory, has called healthcare facilities to their attention, reiterating the importance of distributing the Ministry of Health's memo to all emergency rooms, infectious disease departments, general medicine departments, and pulmonology departments, as well as to clinical analysis and microbiology laboratories within healthcare institutions. Regarding the regional plan, Rocca, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting at the Ministry of Health with doctors' unions, also clarified: "The ministry has issued a circular. We have the plans, but for now, there is no pandemic. The regional plans are being reviewed, and we will be ready if necessary." In short, the situation is considered to be monitored but not critical. Health authorities are adopting a cautious approach based on targeted checks and coordination between facilities, without extending to generalized alarm scenarios.

(Unioneonline)

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