90-Second Read: Denver Health keeps biocontainment unit ready to help with Andes Hantavirus cases

Colorado hasn't reported any exposures, but Denver Health is staying ready. This is sort of in preparation for Denver Health as the regional treatment center, to be able to potentially take in care for any patients with high-consequence infectious diseases such as the Hantavirus. There are no known cases of Andes Hantavirus here in Colorado right now.

Most cases are linked to the cruise ship at the center of an international outbreak. Beitscher said Denver Health's unit is one of just 13 around the country that was identified to serve as a 'high-level isolation unit' more than a decade earlier during the Ebola outbreak. A cr uise ship on the Atlantic was the center of an outbreak of Hantavirus this month with passengers exposed to a strain called the Andes virus.

But Beitscher said if other units are at capacity, Denver Health's unit is ready to help. Denver Health said they do drills like Thursday's every few months to keep staff ready to respond while keeping both doctors and patients safe. There are now 16 states reporting potential Hantavirus exposures.