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Hantavirus live updates: 41 people under monitoring across US
Sixteen ship passengers are being monitored in Nebraska's quarantine unit.
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.
Sixteen American passengers arrived on Monday at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Fifteen of those passengers were being monitored in a quarantine unit and another, who had initially tested positive, was in a biocontainment unit, officials said. Later, that person tested negative and was medically cleared to go to the quarantine unit.
Two other American passengers were flown to Atlanta for "further assessment and care," officials said.
Key Headlines
- WHO hunts for hantavirus source
- American doctor who initially tested positive says further testing shows 'no evidence that I've had hantavirus'
- 12 quarantined staff members at Dutch hospital were not contagious to others, hospital says
- 41 people under monitoring for hantavirus across US, CDC says
- All close contact patients in France test negative, health minister says
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.
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
American in quarantine gives video update
Jake Rosmarin, one of the American cruise patients currently quarantining in Nebraska, provided an update on his Instagram page Wednesday.
On his third day of quarantine at the National Quarantine Unit, Rosmarin showed off his thermometer used to take his temperature, his breakfast and his daily routine.
"One thing I really want to emphasize is how kind everyone here has been. The staff truly want to make sure we are as comfortable and cared for as possible during all of this. They even asked me what Starbucks I’d want and said they were hopefully going to get one delivered to me again today," he wrote in the post.
-ABC News' Matt Foster
American doctor who tested positive speaks out from quarantine
Dr. Steve Kornfeld, a physician who was onboard the MV Hondius and stepped in when the ship's physician contracted the virus, opened up about his own quarantine in Nebraska.
Speaking to CNN, Kornfeld talked about being in the biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center after he too tested positive for the hantavirus.
After experiencing "night sweats, chills and mild respiratory symptoms, as well as more than two weeks of severe fatigue," he told CNN that he is experiencing no symptoms and is in good spirits.
Kornfeld added that the time is passing quickly and he's spending a lot of time on WhatsApp.
Minnesota monitoring person 'potentially exposed' to hantavirus, Health Department says
The Minnesota Department of Health said it’s monitoring the condition of a person who "may have briefly been exposed overseas" to another person who tested positive for hantavirus after being on board the MV Hondius.
"MDH is in contact with the person who was exposed," the department said in a statement on Tuesday. "They have been very cooperative, and we are monitoring them daily for symptoms. The person does not currently have symptoms. MDH will not release any additional information on the person to protect their privacy."
-ABC News’ Jessica Gorman