We Now Know How Many People the CDC Is Monitoring for Hantavirus
Key takeaways
- This includes a group of 18 passengers from the cruise ship who are now in quarantine facilities in Nebraska and Georgia, according to health officials.
- The Andes virus is a strain of hantavirus found in South America that can be transmitted from person to person.
- A Department of Health and Human Services official confirmed to WIRED that all Americans who were on board the Hondius at any point during its journey are now back in the US.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring a total of 41 people in the US for the Andes hantavirus after a cruise ship was hit with a rare outbreak but that the risk to the public remains low.
This includes a group of 18 passengers from the cruise ship who are now in quarantine facilities in Nebraska and Georgia, according to health officials. The agency is also monitoring passengers who returned home before the outbreak was identified and others who were exposed during travel, specifically on flights where a symptomatic case was present.
“Most people under monitoring are considered high-risk exposures, and CDC recommends that everyone under monitoring stay at home and avoid being around people during their 42 day monitoring period,” David Fitter, incident manager for CDC’s hantavirus response, told reporters during a media briefing on Thursday. “We emphasize not to travel across all these groups.”