{"id":859669,"date":"2026-05-07T11:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=859669"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:38:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:38:02","slug":"airlink-issues-important-message-after-passenger-passes-away-from-new-virus-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/859669\/airlink-issues-important-message-after-passenger-passes-away-from-new-virus-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Airlink issues important message after passenger passes away from new virus in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Airlink has initiated contact tracing and informed the public that a passenger on one of its flights had passed away from Hantavirus. Anyone who was on the flight is advised to contact the health department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airline noted that the passenger on Airlink flight 4Z132, which departed St. Helena Island on 25 April 2026, had passed away. The suspected cause of death is Hantavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Health Organisation and South African public health authorities said they were responding to several cases of Hantavirus involving passengers from an Atlantic Ocean cruise ship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One passenger disembarked the ship at St. Helena Island, intending to fly back to the Netherlands via Johannesburg on Airlink flight 4Z 132 from the island on April 25, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, the flight carried 82 passengers and 6 crew members. At that time, Airlink was unaware that any passengers were unwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, 3 May, Airlink was informed by South Africa’s public health authorities that the passenger from the cruise, who had taken the previous week’s flight, had passed away shortly after arriving in Johannesburg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her death is believed to be linked to the rare Hantavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In accordance with health protocols, Airlink provided the Department of Health with the names, contact details, and seating arrangements of the passengers and crew on the flight to facilitate contact tracing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airlink is also reaching out to the passengers from that flight, advising them to contact South Africa\u2019s Department of Health at +27 (0) 76 273 41 55 or via email at Pheoc@health.gov.za.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe safety and well-being of our customers, personnel, and equipment are Airlink’s top priorities,\u201d said Airlink in its statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe airline operates in strict compliance with all relevant public health and aviation regulations and follows guidance from the Department of Health and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Airlink said that its fleet of Embraer aircraft is equipped with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which continuously clean the cabin air, ensuring that it is renewed throughout the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hantavirus in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, 4 May, the Department of Health (DoH) requested that the public stay calm after a rare case of Hantavirus was confirmed in a critically ill British national in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The patient was on the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was travelling to the Canary Islands via Cape Verde from Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ship carried about 150 passengers and stopped at several destinations, including mainland Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena, and Ascension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two additional passengers, a husband and wife, also faced medical emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the ship was travelling past South African shores, some of the passengers experienced serious health complications arising from what was initially considered severe acute respiratory infections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department indicated that the first patient was a 70-year-old male passenger who suddenly fell ill while travelling from Ushuaia to St Helena Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He presented symptoms including fever, headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea. He did not survive upon arrival at St Helena Island. The DoH said that his remains were still there, awaiting repatriation to the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department reported that the second affected passenger was a 69-year-old woman, the spouse of the first patient, who collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport while attempting to catch a flight back to the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said that she was taken to a nearby health facility in Kempton Park for medical assistance, but did not survive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Airlink has initiated contact tracing and informed the public that a passenger on one of its flights had passed away from Hantavirus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":859675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[15416,25330],"class_list":["post-859669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-airlink","tag-hantavirus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859669"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859721,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859669\/revisions\/859721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}