90-Second Read: 5th Californian possibly exposed to Hantavirus identified, health officials say no confirmed cases

California public health officials said on Wednesday that they have identified a fifth resident who may have been exposed to the Andes Hantavirus due to the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Along with that announcement, health officials stressed that none of the five California residents, nor any residents of the United States, currently has a confirmed case of the Andes Hantavirus. State health officials said this person may have been exposed to the Andes Hantavirus while aboard an international flight carrying a passenger who later died from the virus.

The individual, who remains asymptomatic, is currently in the Pitcairn Islands, a British territory in the South Pacific, and is being monitored by CDC and British health officials. Among the four other California residents, two have since returned to their homes in the state, one in Sacramento County and the other in Santa Clara County, and are also undergoing public health monitoring but are showing no symptoms, officials said. California health officials said exposed individuals are monitored for 42 days under CDC guidance.

Hantaviruses typically spread through contact with infected rodent urine, droppings or saliva, officials said. Officials also noted that the Andes Hantavirus differs from the Sin Nombre Hantavirus strain found in parts of North America. This newly identified California resident had been aboard the MV Hondius but disembarked prior to the outbreak being known, officials said.