90-Second Read: Prisoner at San Quentin may have Hantavirus, authorities say

The San Quentin Rehabilitation Center confirmed that a 38-year-old inmate at the facility has contracted a possible case of Hantavirus. The situation was first reported on Monday, but the prison confirmed on Wednesday that the illness was being treated as a possible Hantavirus infection. Prison officials said no other potential Hantavirus cases have been identified. Prisons became hotbeds of infection during the Covid-19 pandemic, but person-to-person spread of the Hantavirus is rare A prison in California said on Wednesday that an inmate has possibly contracted Hantavirus.

According to the California Department of Public Health, there is no antiviral treatment. Hantavirus surged into the public's consciousness in May after several people on a cruise ship fell ill, and three died, following a Hantavirus outbreak. The most common forms of Hantavirus do not spread person-to-person and require someone to breathe in contaminated particles from rodent feces or urine or to touch a contaminated surface before it can spread. While the prison does have medical facilities, an official told the broadcaster that she did not know if the inmate was being treated at the facility or had been returned to his cell.

Prison officials said that they do not believe the virus was spread person-to-person, and it has not announced a quarantine, according to ABC 7. Enclosed spaces, like cruise ships and prisons, are especially susceptible to the spread of contagious diseases. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the illness spread to more than half a million US inmates and killed nearly 3,000, according to the Prison Policy Institute. A rare variant of the virus can spread between people, but even that variant requires significant exposure to an infected individual's bodily fluids.