2 Americans Presumably Positive for the Hantavirus

American passengers from the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak, including at least one who inconclusively tested positive, arrived in Omaha, Nebraska, early Monday for evaluation at a highly specialized quarantine unit, CNN reported. Seventeen U.S. citizens and one British national who lives in the U.S. entered the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S., designed specifically to safely house and monitor people who may have been exposed to high-consequence infectious diseases. 

One of the Americans has tested “mildly” positive for the virus, and another has mild symptoms, the Department of Health and Human Services said late Sunday. Both traveled in biocontainment units on the plane. The passenger who tested positive does not have symptoms but was taken directly to the biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The other passengers went to the center’s National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was not treating this as a quarantine for the cruise ship passengers, but rather as a brief visit to monitor their health. Once at the facility, the passengers will be checked for symptoms of early hantavirus infection, including fever, muscle aches, and diarrhea.

Later on Monday, two American MV Hondius Passengers were transferred to Emory University Hospital’s Serious Communicable Diseases Unit in Atlanta, CNN reported. One person is experiencing symptoms and the other person is a close contact.

The hantavirus outbreak was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 2. The virus, typically associated with rodents, may have been transmitted from person to person aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, the WHO said. Since April 11, three people from the ship have died. As of May 8, there were eight total cases connected to the MV Hondius cruise ship—six lab-confirmed plus two probable cases.

On Friday, the CDC said the risk to the public remains low, although ISSA’s Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner said the virus represents a significant health risk for those cleaning areas where the virus is present. Additionally, seven American passengers who previously disembarked the ship are being monitored in five states: Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia, officials said. New Jersey officials also are monitoring two others who were not on the ship but may have been exposed on a flight.