Bay Area health officials confirm resident exposed to hantavirus on MV Hondius cruise ship
A San Francisco Bay Area resident who was a passenger on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak is being monitored, health officials said.
According to the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, a county resident was exposed to the Andes hantavirus while on the MV Hondius. The resident has since returned home to California.
County officials said the passenger is not showing symptoms and does not appear to be sick, though health experts say the virus can take weeks before symptoms develop.
Health experts said the incubation period for Andes hantavirus is roughly six to eight weeks, prompting continued monitoring by local, state and federal health agencies.
Officials said no additional information about the passenger will be released, citing medical privacy laws.
"At this time, there is no known risk to the public in Santa Clara County," health officer Dr. Sarah Rudman said in a statement.
The health department said monitoring is being conducted in coordination with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nine people on the MV Hondius had confirmed or suspected cases of the hantavirus, while three people have died, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Officials believe the Santa Clara County resident likely disembarked from the cruise ship on April 24, meaning more than two weeks have passed since the possible exposure. It remains unclear when the passenger returned home or when county officials were first notified.
On Sunday, passengers on the MV Hondius began to disembark from the vessel in the Canary Islands. Among the nearly 150 people on board, 17 were Americans.
The CDC said it sent a team of epidemiologists and medical professionals to the Canary Islands to "conduct an exposure risk assessment for each American passenger and provide recommendations for the level of monitoring required."
After leaving the ship, the Americans will be flown back to the United States on a plane sent by the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services. Once back in the U.S., the Americans will be quarantined in a biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Health officials said another California passenger from the same cruise ship is expected to be removed from the vessel on Sunday and transported with the other Americans to the quarantine facility in Nebraska.
"They're being monitored, and that typically means they get symptom checks twice a day, temperature checks, etcetera. And maybe PCR tests for hantavirus twice a week," said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at UCSF.
According to officials, hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that are occasionally transmitted to humans. Infection among humans usually takes place through contact with infected rodents, their urine, droppings or saliva.
Officials said Andes hantavirus can cause limited person-to-person transmission only through "close and prolonged contact", such as among household members or intimate partners.
Experts stressed the Andes hantavirus is far more difficult to spread than COVID-19.
"It's not easily transmittable," Chin-Hong said. "You can't get it from going to Starbucks or Trader Joe's."
