American officials said on Wednesday that residents in three states were being monitored for potential hantavirus infections after being aboard a Dutch cruise ship where there was a deadly outbreak of the virus. None of the people being monitored have shown signs of illness, the officials said.
Since April 11, three passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius have died and five other people have been sickened after showing symptoms of the hantavirus, a rare family of viruses carried by rodents, according to the World Health Organization.
In the United States, at least three states are monitoring residents who were aboard the ship but have since returned home.
The Georgia Department of Public Health is monitoring two residents, it said in a statement. They “are currently in good health and show no signs of infection,” the department said, and they are following recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The California Department of Public Health was notified by the C.D.C. that California residents had been on the MV Hondius as well, said Robert Barsanti, a spokesman for the department. The agency is assisting local health authorities with monitoring, he said, but did not disclose how many residents were under monitoring. “There is no information that the California residents are ill or infected,” Mr. Barsanti said. “At this time, the risk to public health in California is low.”
The Arizona Department of Health Services received notification that one resident was a passenger on the ship, according to a spokeswoman. “This individual is not symptomatic and is being monitored,” she added.
The C.D.C. tracks hantavirus cases in the United States. There were 26 cases in 2023, the most recent year with available data. The center has tracked cases since 1993 and has counted a total of 890 in the country since then.
The C.D.C. did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.
Off Cape Verde on Wednesday, three patients were evacuated from the cruise ship, which is now heading to the Canary Islands. Two patients have landed in the Netherlands, where they are receiving medical treatment, according to a statement from Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company operating the cruise.
The third patient was evacuated on a separate flight, the company said.
Most hantavirus strains cannot spread person to person, but the Andes strain, which has been identified in this outbreak, can move between people, according to Bryce Warner, a research scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan who has extensively researched hantavirus. The virus does not spread easily, requiring repeated close contact, he added.
The ship, with 150 passengers, will dock in the Canary Islands and undergo an evacuation process. The ship is expected to arrive in three to four days and evacuations are expected to begin on Monday, the Spanish authorities said.
Rylee Kirk reports on breaking news, trending topics and major developing stories for The Times.
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