Hantavirus quarantine for some US travelers to end | Today’s news
Some American passengers exposed to hantavirus aboard the Hondius cruise ship will be released from isolation next week, including two New Yorkers, as others extend their quarantine beyond the original May 31 end date, state public health officials said.
The US monitored 18 Americans at the University of Nebraska Omaha’s National Quarantine Unit for hantavirus symptoms, including a retired doctor who initially tested positive for the virus but was later medically discharged.
The New York State Department of Health said two people will leave the facility next week, while another will remain in Nebraska until the end of the full incubation period on June 22. Those returning will be transported by non-commercial flights to residences outside of New York City, where they will have no contact with strangers and participate in daily monitoring until the quarantine is complete, the health department said in a statement.
Details of the remaining passengers have not been released. When asked about plans, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was continuing to work with travelers and state and local health departments during the 42-day monitoring period, without providing further details.
Hantaviruses are transmitted by rodents and can cause serious illness in humans. Depending on the strain, they can trigger hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs, or hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects the kidneys.
In early April, one person aboard the Hondius reported respiratory symptoms. Three passengers subsequently died.
Hondius began evacuating passengers in the Spanish Canary Islands on 10 May. The following day, the American passengers were taken to rooms in the National Quarantine Unit for monitoring.
U.S. officials have been hesitant about whether this period of quarantine is voluntary. In early May, Jay Bhattacharya, the CDC’s acting director, said most of those travelers would have the choice of remaining in Nebraska for assessment or returning to their communities for quarantine “if their domestic situation allows.” Later, CDC officials said at a briefing that leadership across the federal government had decided to quarantine passengers in Nebraska until May 31. Hantavirus has an incubation period of 42 days.
Given the long incubation period of the virus, it is “not unexpected” that infections continue to be reported until six weeks have passed since travelers were exposed to the virus, the World Health Organization said in a statement on 28 March.
The CDC has now shifted much of its focus to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries. The agency is sending staff to Africa to help on the ground even as the U.S. moves to contain people who have been potentially exposed to the virus.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
