KLM flight attendant tested for hantavirus

The Hague: A flight attendant for the KLM airline is being tested for the hantavirus after showing mild symptoms and being admitted to hospital in Amsterdam, a Dutch health ministry spokesperson told AFP Thursday.

The woman was undergoing tests in hospital, said the spokesperson, Mischa Stubenitsky.

RTL media reported that the flight attendant had come into contact with a Dutch woman who was taken off a KLM plane and later died of the virus in South Africa.

KLM said on Wednesday that the passenger had been briefly on a flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands, but was removed before take-off.

“Due to the passenger’s medical condition at the time, the crew decided not to allow the passenger to travel on the flight,” which was flight KL592 from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on April 25 at 11:15 pm local time.

“After the passenger was removed from the aircraft, the flight departed for the Netherlands,” added KLM.

Dutch health authorities are contacting people on the flight “as a precaution,” KLM said in its statement.