90-Second Read: 2 Maryland residents being monitored after potential Hantavirus exposure on flight

According to health officials, Maryland has not had a Hantavirus case since 2019, and the Andes virus has never been reported within the state. The risk of Maryland residents catching the disease remains low, Maryland health officials said. Lyke said the two Maryland residents who were on the same flight as one of the passengers are much less likely to get infected than if they were on the cruise. Officials said the two, who were not identified, are being monitored out of caution. Both people flew on the same plane that included an infected passenger of the M/V Hondius cruise ship, which saw an outbreak of the Andes strain of the Hantavirus.

But the emphasis is on 'rare' because it's not very efficient." The Hantavirus has already killed three passengers on the cruise, and got many more sick. The 18 American passengers on the ship have been taken to a quarantine center after they returned to the country. In the meantime, one Maryland resident told 7News he is confident health leaders will contain Hantavirus. It takes being in a closed area for a prolonged period of time. Lyke told 7News there are some key symptoms that will be monitored there.

I'm hoping these two people don't have this and they're not infected, that god keeps them in their graces and we can move on and not experience what we did back during the pandemic," said John Bodecker, who lives in Maryland. Most Hantavirus-based diseases do not spread between people. This is the rare exception, the Andes virus variant of the Hantavirus. That's really what gets people, is they become really profoundly in distress respiratory-wise, and can ultimately die from these viruses." This strain of Hantavirus is mostly isolated to South America. It's one of those rare viruses that really, by and large, does not transmit human-to-human.

When the threat died down, the funding kind of dried up." Now that this virus has snatched headlines, Lyke said work on a vaccine could soon be warranted. Virginia health officials said it was also monitoring a resident who had been a passenger on the Hondius, but said the person did not show any symptoms of the disease. They're very much like flu-like symptoms, but they progress. According to health officials, this virus is typically spread through contact with mice and other rodents. I already heard that there's rumblings at the [National Institutes of Health], that it might be of interest to get some more studies going on, but that remains to be seen.