The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor three new people who were exposed abroad to the hantavirus outbreak.
It comes after passengers aboard the cruise ship Hondius, which is at the center of the outbreak, were evacuated following a massive international repatriation effort.
Several countries are now working to isolate and monitor passengers amid an ongoing global quarantine operation.
Among those passengers are over a dozen U.S residents who are back in the United States. Sixteen of them were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where one person who tested positive for hantavirus is now in a biocontainment unit.
Two other passengers, a couple, are being monitored at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after one of them displayed mild symptoms.
U.S. health officials continue to say the risk to the public is very low. Acting CDC Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya told Scripps News Group Tuesday about the precautions being taken.
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“Our priority, of course, is to make sure that they are okay, but also to keep the public safe,” Bhattacharya said. “The assessment that I'm getting from the CDC folks and the experts the CDC who know about this disease are telling me that there's basically no risk to the American public at this point given the way that we handle it to date.”
Symptoms from the virus can appear up to 42 days after exposure, though U.S. passengers will not be required to undergo a full quarantine for that time period. The medical centers said they are prepared to monitor passengers for 42 days if warranted.
Health officials continue to stress that human-to-human transmission is very low and occurs through prolonged close contact.
Symptoms of hantavirus, which can include fever, chills and muscle aches, usually appear between one and eight weeks after exposure. Several states are actively monitoring hantavirus exposures linked to the outbreak, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia. Three infected passengers died aboard the ship.
The cruise ship is headed for the Netherlands, where it will be cleaned and disinfected. According to Oceanwide Expeditions, 27 individuals remain on board — 25 crew members and two medical staff — and the ship is expected to arrive in the Netherlands Sunday or Monday.
