CDC Director: No Hantavirus Cases in United States

There are currently no hantavirus cases in the United States, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on May 15.

“There are no hantavirus cases in the United States currently, and I will emphasize that the risk to the general public remains extremely low,” Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health and acting director of the CDC, told reporters on a call.

Dozens of U.S. residents are in quarantine at medical facilities or are being monitored at home because they were on a cruise ship on which a hantavirus outbreak occurred or because they came into contact with people who had hantavirus.

“The CDC’s coordination with others in the federal government, across state and local health departments, is ongoing, and it won’t stop until everyone potentially exposed is through their monitoring period, home and healthy, and every community can be confident that we’ve done everything in our power to protect them,” Bhattacharya said.

The incubation period of the virus is up to 42 days, officials have said.

People who have come in close contact with cases are encouraged to stay home and limit contact with others, frequently wash their hands, and avoid activities that involve sharing personal items, according to the CDC.

Hantavirus is not known to spread before a person develops symptoms, Dr. David Fitter, the CDC’s hantavirus response manager, told reporters.

“These recommendations are a precaution in case an exposed person develops early symptoms and doesn’t recognize them immediately,” he said.

There are no specific treatments for hantavirus. Doctors provide supportive care and treat symptoms, including by working to alleviate difficulty breathing.

The MV Hondius cruise ship departed from Argentina on April 1 and went to remote locations, including Antarctica. The final passengers disembarked on May 11.

Tests from patients who were on the Hondius have confirmed the Andes strain of hantavirus, which can spread from person to person. Transmission of the virus can also occur from contact with infected rodents. As of May 13, 11 cases, including eight confirmed, and three deaths are linked to the outbreak, the World Health Organization said.

An American doctor who was on board at one point tested positive for hantavirus, but has since tested negative. He is among the Americans who were flown to a facility in Omaha, Nebraska, and are in quarantine.

CDC officials declined to say whether all the Americans quarantined in Nebraska, or at a similar facility in Georgia, are asymptomatic at this time, citing a desire to protect those people’s privacy.

The White House and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are receiving daily updates on hantavirus, and are following the outbreak “very, very, closely,” according to Bhattacharya.