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Hantavirus live updates: WHO hunts for source of virus
The overall public risk remains low, the WHO said.
The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus of those who were onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship stands at 10, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.
No cases of Andes hantavirus have been confirmed in the U.S. The eighteen American ship passengers are being monitored at the quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Key Headlines
- Health officials in Washington state tracking hantavirus case unrelated to cruise ship
- 2 cruise ship passengers originally in Atlanta now at Nebraska quarantine facility
- Suspected hantavirus case at upstate New York high school, not linked to cruise ship
- US has no cases of Andes hantavirus
- WHO hunts for hantavirus source
- American doctor who initially tested positive says further testing shows 'no evidence that I've had hantavirus'
What is hantavirus and how does it spread?
Here's what you need to know about hantavirus including what it is, how it spreads, how it's treated and if there are any prevention methods:
What is hantavirus?
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death, according to the CDC.
How does hantavirus spread?
Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.
Read more about hantavirus here.
3 in Kansas taken to hospital for observation after being exposed to hantavirus abroad
Three people in Kansas who have been under monitoring by the state's health department for potential hantavirus infection have been transported to a hospital for observation, a department spokesperson told ABC News.
It is not clear why they were transported and if any of the three have shown signs of symptoms.
Kansas’ health department initially announced on Tuesday that these three people -- who were not cruise ship passengers -- were exposed to an infected individual abroad. The department said their exposure was "high risk" and said at the time that they were not showing any signs of illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is "aware and monitoring closely," a spokesperson told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud
23 US residents under monitoring by 11 state health departments
North Dakota’s health department said it is monitoring five individuals who were exposed to a sick hantavirus cruise ship member abroad. None of these five people were on the cruise ship, the department said.
There are now 11 state health departments monitoring a total of at least 23 people, none of whom have symptoms.
The other states monitoring people are Texas, California, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, Kansas and Minnesota.
-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud
American doctor who initially tested positive moved from isolation after negative test
Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, who identified himself as the first American who initially tested positive for hantavirus from samples taken on the cruise ship, has now tested negative in subsequent testing, he told ABC News.
The testing was originally listed as inconclusive per the World Health Organization because of a positive and negative test result returned from a Dutch lab. Health officials had proceeded with caution and labeled him as a positive case.
Kornfeld was moved from the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit to the National Quarantine Unit, alongside his fellow passengers, according to a statement from Nebraska Medicine.
-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud and Vera Drymon
CDC retesting American passenger who contracted virus
Officials with the U.S. Centers or Disease Control and Preventionupdated the public on the hantavirus situation and reiterated the risk to the U.S. population remains low.
Dr. David Fitter, the incident manager for CDC’s hantavirus response, told reporters in a telephone news conference that the agency has over 100 staff working full time on the outbreak.
Dr. Brendan Jackson, the CDC team lead in Nebraska where some of the U.S. passengers of the MV Hondius are quarantining, said that the one passenger who tested positive did his tests abroad but they were inconclusive.
"We got a positive and a negative abroad, so we want to redo the test here in the U.S.," he said.
The CDC is awaiting the results of that new test, Jackson said.
-ABC News' Eric Strauss