May 7 (Reuters) – The Virginia Department of Health said on Thursday it is monitoring a resident who recently returned from a cruise ship linked to a deadly Hantavirus outbreak.
The person had been aboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged expedition cruise ship that is at the center of an international public-health response after multiple cases of the rare virus were identified on board.
• The department said the person was in good health and posed a low risk to the public.
• The traveler has returned to Virginia and is under public health monitoring, officials said.
• Hantavirus usually spreads through contact with infected rodents and human-to-human transmission is uncommon.
• State officials said that fewer than 30 U.S. citizens were aboard the ship and that a small number of additional Virginia residents who were probably exposed could be identified in the coming days.
• “Generally speaking, we believe the risk to the general public to be low,” the department said, noting it is working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health agencies.
• The World Health Organization has reported at least eight suspected or confirmed cases tied to the ship, including three deaths, as authorities investigate the spread of the virus.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
