90-Second Read: 4 Californians being monitored for Hantavirus exposure, officials say

Four Californians were exposed to the Andes strain of the Hantavirus and are being monitored by public health officials, the California Department of Public Health announced Monday, May 11. Pan noted that although these two Californians were exposed to the Hantavirus, they were allowed to return to California since neither resident was showing symptomatic behaviors. Since its departure, three people, a Dutch couple and a German national, have died in the outbreak, according to health officials. Out of the four people exposed, two of the residents were on the MV Hondius cruise ship and are currently being quarantined in Nebraska with the other Americans who were evacuated and returned stateside, according Erica Pan, the director and state public health officer for CDPH.

The resident has since returned to Sacramento County and is being monitored for symptoms. Hantavirus typically spreads through contact with the urine, feces, or saliva of infected rodents, and human-to-human transmission is uncommon. The WHO has said it believes the Hantavirus outbreak stemmed from a Dutch couple on board the MV Hondius who both later died from their infections. The Santa Clara County resident was a passenger on the MV Hondius who disembarked early and returned to California, before the outbreak was recognized, according to Pan.

The CDPH did not release the counties of origin of these two people being quarantined. The resident sat within two seats of an ill patient for at least 15 minutes, according to Pan. The strain at the center of the outbreak has been confirmed as the Andes virus, which is believed to spread person-to-person, according to the World Health Organization. Symptoms typically appear between two and four weeks after initial exposure.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said at a May 7 briefing. Maria Van Kerkhove, director of WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic management, said at a May 5 briefing that the MV Hondius also stopped at many islands up the coast of Africa where others may have come in contact with the virus. Prior to boarding the ship, the couple had gone on a bird-watching trip through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, Dr.