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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.
Scientists heading to Ushuaia to research if hantavirus was already there before MV Hondius departed
A team of Argentine scientists are planning to head to Ushuaia next week to conduct research to see if hantavirus was already there before the MV Hondius cruise ship departed on April 1, officials said.
The team will collect samples and send them to a lab. The results are expected to come back in about four weeks.
The World Health Organization has posited that the first infection likely happened on land before the ship even sailed. But local officials in Ushuaia say they are not convinced because they’ve never had a confirmed hantavirus case there.
“Its been 45 days since the ship left and we haven't had any cases,” said Juan Petrina, director of epidemiology for Tierra del Fuego province.
-ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic
12 quarantined staff members at Dutch hospital were not contagious to others, hospital says
Officials at Radboudumc hospital in the Netherlands say blood tests show that the 12 hospital employees placed in precautionary quarantine were not contagious to others.
The hospital said the chance of actual infection remains "very small," but the employees are continuing a six-week precautionary quarantine.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
41 people under monitoring for hantavirus across US, CDC says
There are 41 people under monitoring across the U.S. for potential hantavirus infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's incident manager for hantavirus, Dr. David Fitter, said in a phone call with reporters.
Those 41 people include: 16 people who were repatriated from the cruise ship and are under quarantine at a Nebraska facility; two who were repatriated from the cruise ship and are being monitored at an Atlanta facility; seven people who were former cruise ship passengers who left before the outbreak was declared; and 16 people who were exposed during travel, including on flights, officials said.
No Americans are positive for hantavirus at this time, officials said.
All 16 people in the Nebraska facility are recommended to stay for the entire 42-day period, officials said.
The remaining exposed people who are not at the quarantine facilities are recommended to stay at home, away from others, with an emphasis to avoid travel, officials said. These individuals are in touch with their state and local health departments and the CDC said it is in touch with those departments.
-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud
All close contact patients in France test negative, health minister says
The French government has been tracking 26 people who had close contacts with cruise ship passengers, and all of those people tested negative for hantavirus on Thursday, according to French Health Minister Stephanie Rist.
“As a precautionary measure against a disease whose lethality is estimated at between 30 and 40% and given the long incubation period -- evaluated today at 42 days -- these 26 individuals have all been placed in hospital isolation,” Rist said. “These 26 individuals will continue to be medically monitored and tested three times per week.”
Meanwhile, the one French cruise ship passenger who tested positive for hantavirus remains in intensive care, Rist said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky