90-Second Read: Oregon doctor released from isolation unit after new Hantavirus test

A retired Bend doctor who helped care for sick passengers during a deadly Hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has been released from a specialized medical isolation unit. Health officials believe a Dutch couple who became sick during the trip were exposed to the rodent-borne Andes Hantavirus while on a birdwatching excursion in Argentina. Hantavirus is rare in the United States, but when infections do occur, the most commonly reported form is Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), which is primarily associated with the deer mouse. Stephen Kornfeld, a retired oncologist from Bend, told CNN on May 12 he was being monitored inside a biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center after a test he took on the ship came back positive.

The outbreak tied to the cruise ship has grown to about a dozen cases with three confirmed deaths. The CDC said more than 100 staff members are actively working on the outbreak, including monitoring and tracking the whereabouts of passengers who left the cruise before the outbreak was detected and may have shared flights with the public. Fitter said that unlike COVID-19, which was an unknown virus that easily spread, the Hantavirus is known and doesn't spread easily. At the time, he and other staff members took a nasal swab that was then frozen.

Hantaviruses are multiple viruses within the same family that can cause serious illnesses and death. Hantavirus can be contracted when people come into contact with rodents like rats and mice, and especially when exposed to rodent urine, droppings and saliva, according to the CDC. The Andes virus is the only Hantavirus known to be transmitted among people. There currently is no cure or specific treatment for Hantavirus infections.

A French passenger from the cruise was also reportedly in intensive care at a hospital in Paris. The CDC said that American passengers remain in quarantine in Nebraska and are being encouraged to stay for the full 42-day incubation period, which officially began May 11, but did not say whether they are being required to stay. Health officials also continue tracing passengers who left the ship before quarantine measures were fully in place.