Several American tourists who left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are being monitored in three states after it was revealed that dozens of passengers disembarked from the boat without contact tracing.
Passengers Left Ship Without Contact Tracing
Six Americans left the luxury cruise ship on April 24 on the island of St Helena, 13 days following the first death on board, cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions revealed on Thursday. Two people in Georgia, one person in Arizona and an unspecified number of people in California are being monitored, according to officials.
Government Response
'The Department of State is leading a coordinated, whole-of-government response including direct contact with passengers, diplomatic coordination, and engagement with domestic and international health authorities,' the CDC said on Wednesday.
The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed the agency was monitoring two residents. 'The individuals are currently in good health and show no signs of infection. They are following current recommendations from CDC,' the agency said in a statement to USA Today. However, Georgia officials did not specify what part of the state they reside in, or how long they will be monitored.
The Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed it was notified by Oceanwide about one resident who had been on the ship. In California, the Department of Public Health said it was alerted by the CDC about residents who were on board, but did not disclose how many.
Hantavirus and Andes Virus
Hantavirus usually spreads by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and may be transmitted from person to person, though that is rare, according to the World Health Organization, whose top epidemic expert said the risk to the public is low. Tests have confirmed that at least five people who were on the ship were infected with a hantavirus found in South America, called the Andes virus. It can cause a severe and often fatal lung disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The Andes strain is the only hantavirus known to spread from human to human.
Origin of Outbreak
The deadly outbreak that has wreaked havoc aboard the cruise ship and left three people dead is believed to have originated in a seagull-plagued rubbish tip in an Argentinian town known as 'the end of the world'. The Argentine government's leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple who died contracted the virus during a bird-watching outing at a garbage dump in Ushuaia before boarding the vessel.
