90-Second Read: Hawaiʻi Health Officials Monitoring Ebola, Hantavirus

The World Health Organization (WHO) on May 16th declared a public health emergency of international concern due to the Ebola outbreak. The DOH also continues to closely monitor an outbreak of Andes virus, a strain of Hantavirus, among passengers and crew of the cruise ship MV Hondius. Cases of infections caused by these other Hantaviruses, although relatively rare, are seasonal and typically increase in the continental U.S. during the spring and summer as people come into contact with infected rodents.

Bundigbugyo virus (BDBV) is a strain of the Ebola virus group first identified during an outbreak in the Bundigbugyo District of Uganda in 2007. National and international public health authorities are placing additional traveler screening measures in place in outbreak-affected areas to reduce the likelihood of traveler spread. Second, this outbreak also reminds us of the importance of being an informed and proactive international traveler to stay healthy.

Travel to international locations with an ongoing outbreak of a severe disease may require additional monitoring and activity restrictions upon return home, as recommended by the CDC and the DOH. Several other New World Hantaviruses are endemic to the United States and are not transmissible from person to person. Like other Ebola viruses, BDBV causes a severe illness called Bundigbugyo Virus Disease (BVD).