WHO warns that hantavirus infections are expected to increase
The WHO chief said there could be an increase in hantavirus cases after contact with passengers on the MV Hondius.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said Americans who traveled on the MV Hondius are encouraged to remain in isolation in Nebraska, but did not specify that they would remain at the facility for the entire 42-day incubation period.
The incubation period is the time between when a person is exposed to a pathogen, such as a virus, and when symptoms begin to appear.
“Our goal is to continue to work together toward the best place for them, and we encourage them to be there,” CDC officials said on a call with reporters Wednesday.
Passengers from the cruise ship that became the epicenter of the deadly hantavirus outbreak are at facilities in Nebraska and Georgia.
The CDC confirmed that the two passengers were still staying at Emory in Atlanta, but did not provide additional details, saying, “Out of respect for their privacy, they intend to stop there.”
He also did not answer questions about how many people were being monitored. “We are not releasing exact numbers at this time. Again, we want to ensure that we protect and respect the privacy of all individuals,” they said.
At the beginning of the call, officials said the risk of hantavirus to the general public remains low, adding that the CDC has more than 100 employees actively working on the outbreak.
On May 10, 18 Americans, including one dual British citizen, disembarked from a ship off the coast of Tenerife, Spain, and returned to the U.S. mainland. Most were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, with 15 staying in the standard isolation unit and one in the center’s biocontainment unit.
The two passengers (a couple) were transported to the biocontainment unit at Emory University in Atlanta. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said in a May 11 press conference that the two were moved to make room at a biocontainment facility in Nebraska.
Click here for the latest information on the hantavirus outbreak.
American pilot in MV Hondius tests negative
All Americans in quarantine at the University of Nebraska are asymptomatic as of May 12, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
One of the two passengers sent to Atlanta initially had symptoms but had tested negative for the Andean variant as of May 12, HHS said.
HHS also said one American passenger initially tested “mild” positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the ship, and officials indicated he would undergo further testing.
The individual initially provided two specimens for testing, one with negative results and one with positive results, Capt. Brendan Jackson, physician and acting director of the CDC’s High Impact Pathogens and Pathology Division, said at a May 11 press conference at the University of Nebraska.
Spain’s Ministry of Health announced in a May 13 post on X that the American man who had an “inconclusive” test has now tested negative. USA TODAY has asked HHS for confirmation.
Dr. Steven Kornfeld, an American passenger on the MV Hondius, told CNN he was the one who tested “mild” positive.
Kornfeld told the magazine that he took up his post as the ship’s doctor in April, after which he eventually started experiencing symptoms himself. He recovered, but was tested along with other sailors in early May. When the two passengers were evacuated to the Netherlands, one of Kornfeld’s test samples was also sent to two laboratories, which yielded different results.
“One lab was negative and the other was slightly positive, so I was told this test was intermediate, but it wasn’t negative so I think it’s being looked at as a potential positive,” he said.
Kornfeld told the outlet that he is currently being isolated at a biocontainment facility in Nebraska.
French passenger in hospital is receiving lung support
The French woman, who was admitted to intensive care on Tuesday, is now receiving lung support, according to multiple reports.
French Health Minister Stéphanie List said on Tuesday that the woman who was infected with the Andean virus was one of five French nationals who returned from the ship.
The woman is currently being treated with an artificial lung, doctors at the Paris hospital treating the sick passenger said on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press and France 24 news agency. USA TODAY has reached out to the hospital for comment.
Dr. Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bisha Hospital, told the media that the passenger had a serious illness that caused life-threatening lung and heart problems.
The life support machine – a device that pumps blood into the artificial lungs, oxygenates it and returns it to the body – is expected to relieve enough pressure on the lungs and heart to give them time to recover, the report added.
According to the report, Dr. Lescure called this the “final stage of supportive care.”
Latest number of hantavirus infections
According to the World Health Organization, as of Tuesday, May 12, a total of 11 people around the world have been infected or suspected of having hantaviruses linked to the MV Hondius outbreak. It’s unclear whether that number has changed because Americans have tested negative. USA TODAY has reached out to the WHO for comment.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press conference on May 12 that nine of the 11 cases were confirmed to be infected with the Andes virus, and the remaining two were likely infected. This number includes three people who died from the infection.
Ghebreyesus said all cases occurred among passengers or crew members of the ship.
“There are currently no signs of a major outbreak, but of course the situation could change and, given the long incubation period of the virus, we could see many more cases in the coming weeks,” he said.
Potential hantavirus infections in Illinois are unrelated to MV Hondius
The Illinois Department of Public Health said it is investigating a possible hantavirus infection in an Illinois resident unrelated to the deadly cruise ship outbreak.
“CDC is conducting additional testing to confirm that the resident is positive for hantavirus,” the health department shared in a news release. “This person is believed to have contracted the virus while cleaning a home where there was rodent droppings.”
CDC staff told IDPH that confirmatory test results could take up to 10 days.
What is quarantine like? Cruise passengers speak out
Jake Rosmarin, a Boston travel influencer and one of the 18 American passengers on board the MV Hondius cruise ship that was at the center of the deadly hantavirus outbreak, spoke out about his quarantine period.
Rosmarin is currently asymptomatic and is being monitored at an isolation center in Nebraska.
He says he plans to quarantine in Nebraska for a full 42 days, the approximate incubation period for the virus, out of concern for the safety of others, including his fiancée back home.
“From the beginning, we were going to have the option to stay the full 42 days,” he told USA TODAY. “I decided right away that I wanted to be here for those 42 days because I knew that no matter what happened, I would receive the best care possible.”
Contributing: Reuter and Charles Trepagny, USA TODAY
