The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that there are no cases of hantavirus in the country as of Thursday, following a global outbreak linked to a trans-Atlantic cruise ship.CDC officials told reporters that public health officials are currently monitoring 41 people for the virus, but no cases have been confirmed in the United States. The outbreak of the Andean strain of hantavirus, which can spread from person to person through close, prolonged contact, is linked to exposure aboard the MV Hondius, which set sail from Argentina to Western Africa in April.
Earlier this week, all 18 U.S. passengers who were aboard the ship were under federal quarantine as doctors from the CDC figured out when they could return to their homes. Sixteen patients are isolated in Omaha, Nebraska, and two others are in a hospital in Atlanta.
CDC officials told reporters on May 14 that another seven passengers who left the ship and returned home before the outbreak was identified are also being monitored, along with 16 people who may have been exposed during flights on which a symptomatic case was present.
David Fitter, incident manager for CDC’s hantavirus response, told reporters that the agency is “not using federal quarantining authority” to forcefully sequester patients.
