CDC Offers Hantavirus Guidance, Says Risk Is Extremely Low

The CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) have both said there is a low risk for the Andes strain of the hantavirus spreading from MV Hondius cruise ship passengers to the general population but continue to closely monitor the guests and crew, including those who may have been exposed when they disembarked before the outbreak had been declared. However, efforts may have been complicated by a previous lack of an approved Andes virus-specific PCR assay which would identify infection before symptoms.In the US, authorities in at least 11 states are monitoring some 41 individuals who are considered at higher risk of becoming ill: 15 are at the University of Nebraska (one in a biocontainment unit and 14 in isolation); two are in isolation at Emory University in Atlanta; and the rest were…

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