The doctor who is in isolation in a biocontainment unit in Nebraska described to CNN what it was like to be on board the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak -- and questioned whether he and others on board may have already had the disease.
Oregon oncologist Stephen Kornfeld, MD, who is at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, said he and a number of other passengers experienced flu-like symptoms in early April.
"I had 3 days of night sweats, a lot of chills, some mild respiratory [symptoms], and a lot of fatigue," Kornfeld told CNN. The night sweats and respiratory issues cleared up, but the fatigue lingered for more than 2 weeks.
At the time, it seemed like an ordinary virus one catches on a ship, Kornfeld said. But since tests aren't as "straight-forward to interpret" as one might think, "it may never be known if that illness, which others also had, was hantavirus" or some other virus.
The CDC and other labs are running tests to assess whether Kornfeld has the virus, he explained. Results are expected later this week.
