90-Second Read: Three New Yorkers were on Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, Hochul says

Kathy Hochul said Monday that three New Yorkers were aboard the cruise ship at the center of a deadly Hantavirus outbreak. The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is believed to be the first known Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, according to the WHO. Officials said the outbreak involves the Andes virus, a rare type of Hantavirus. Hochul said state officials are monitoring the New Yorkers involved. The passengers were on the MV Hondius, where several people became sick with a rare strain of Hantavirus.

Three people have died since the outbreak began, according to the World Health Organization. Health officials said 17 Americans from the ship were flown back to the United States and taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for quarantine and monitoring. A Dutch passenger died aboard the ship April 11, and health officials later identified a suspected outbreak while the ship was near Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa. We don't know whether those individuals will be returning to New York. It's transmitted very differently than the coronavirus.

A French woman and an American have tested positive for the Hantavirus. It is unclear whether any of the New Yorkers tested positive for the virus, Hochul said. But I think it just, be really smart if it's limited to these three individuals, they test negative or they're treated. The virus is usually linked to contact with infected rodent droppings and does not spread easily between people. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

And that's not a sign that we think something is worse than we're being told. Passengers began leaving the ship Sunday after it docked in Spain's Canary Islands.