Two Americans who were not onboard the cruise ship linked to the global hantavirus outbreak are being monitored for symptoms – as officials warn it could take weeks for the 17 evacuated US passengers to know if they are sick.
The Maryland Department of Health made the announcement on Monday, as a final group of 28 passengers disembarked the MV Hondius.
Officials now believe the ‘potential exposure occurred during air travel abroad,’ when the two were flying with somebody who has tested positive.
The strain of the potentially deadly virus that is spreading around the world has been linked to previous cases in which the virus spread via human transmission, though such transmission is rare and generally requires close, prolonged contact with an infected individual or their bodily fluids.
It may then take weeks for people to find out if they have the virus, as the incubation period ranges from four days to 42 days.
‘The Maryland Department of Health is coordinating closely across all levels of government, as well as with leading experts and medical facilities that have Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers,’ officials said in a statement, noting that the Andes strain of the virus has never been reported in the state before.
Meanwhile, authorities in New York announced that three residents of the Empire State were among those onboard the Norwegian-flagged ship.
One was from New York City, while the other two are residents of Orange County and Westchester County, ABC 7 reports.
The Maryland Department of Health announced on Monday that two residents who were not onboard the hantavirus-infected cruise ship have started to display symptoms
Three New York residents were among those onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which has been linked to a global hantavirus outbreak
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said all three of the passengers are being quarantined on a Nebraska Air Force base, where they are being monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
They are then expected to be subject to a 42-day monitoring period.
‘While the Department is working in close coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health departments to gather more information, at this point it is unclear how long they will stay in Nebraska and whether, or when, those individuals intend to return to New York,’ said James McDonald, health commissioner of the New York State Health Department.
‘We are closely monitoring the situation and working with the CDC and local health departments.’
Hochul also said she has tapped some of the state’s best experts to ‘prepare us for any potential scenario.’
But officials in both states maintain that the risk to the general public is very low.
The New York passengers were among 17 Americans now back in the United States following the nightmare cruise.
On Monday, 16 of those passengers arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where 15 are in the quarantine unit and one other is in the biocontainment unit after testing ‘mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus.’
Two other American cruise ship passengers were flown to Atlanta ‘for further assessment and care,’ officials said.
Each of the Americans will now be clinically assessed and cared for based on their condition.
Medical staff are seen speaking with an American citizen after he was evacuated from the ship
Passengers from the final group to be evacuated from the ship made their way to the airport on Monday
Passengers are disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius on Sunday
Passengers who previously left the stricken vessel are also under home quarantine and being closely monitored, including Americans in six states – Arizona, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia.
Around the world, at least nine people no longer on the MV Hondius have fallen ill, with six of them confirmed to have contracted the virus, the World Health Organization has said.
A Dutch couple and a German national have died, and French officials said one woman evacuated from the MV Hondius ship with no initial symptoms is now in ‘serious condition’ with the virus.
A Spanish woman who was on the same flight as a passenger who later died from the disease has also reportedly been hospitalized with a suspected infection.
She was said to have been ‘two rows behind the person who died’ and had ‘only brief contact’. No further details have been released.
Health personnel wearing hazmat suits stand as passengers prepare to board a plane bound for US carrying passengers evacuated from the Dutch flagged hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius
The Andes strain of hantavirus can cause severe lung illness that can be fatal in up to 50 percent of cases, according to the WHO.
Symptoms usually begin between one and eight weeks after exposure.
Warning signs include fever, muscle aches, breathing difficulties, chest tightness, severe weakness or symptoms developing after known exposure to rodents or an infected person.
In those circumstances, doctors say people should seek urgent medical advice and inform healthcare providers about any possible hantavirus exposure.
Those most at risk of severe illness are believed to include older adults, people with weakened immune systems, and anyone exposed to a high dose of the virus – for example, through prolonged exposure to contaminated rodent droppings or dust.
