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NEW YORK (AP) — Hantaviruses do not spread easily between people, which makes health officials confident the recent outbreak on a cruise ship that has
killed three people will not turn into an epidemic. However, they need to ensure thorough measures are taken. Health officials in several countries are conducting contact tracing to identify and follow individuals who may have come into contact with passengers who fell ill or died.
Hantaviruses typically spread when individuals inhale contaminated particles from rodent droppings. Although human cases remain rare, small outbreaks have occurred globally. The Andes virus, linked to the cruise ship outbreak, may potentially transmit between humans in rare instances, prompting scientists to investigate its characteristics and spread.The contact tracing initiative aims to notify those who might have been exposed, monitor their health for symptoms, and prevent further transmission. This process proves challenging due to the social and mobile nature of individuals who frequent crowded venues and travel.
In this outbreak, fewer than a dozen individuals exhibited symptoms, with only five confirmed cases; however, many others may have been exposed. Currently, about 140 people remain on the cruise ship, which is en route to the Canary Islands, and none have reported illness.
Authorities are attempting to contact dozens of passengers who disembarked approximately two weeks after a passenger's death, prior to the identification of hantavirus as the cause. These individuals hail from at least 12 different countries, including various U.S. states such as Arizona, California, Georgia, and Texas, according to infectious disease experts and state public health officials.
In St. Helena, where some passengers disembarked, officials are monitoring a small group of higher-risk contacts who have been advised to isolate for 45 days. British health authorities reported that two passengers who flew home midway through the cruise are self-isolating despite showing no symptoms, with a small number of their contacts also in isolation.
Singapore's health authorities are keeping tabs on two men who disembarked in St. Helena before traveling to South Africa and then home. These men are undergoing testing for hantavirus and are isolated at the National Center for Infectious Diseases.
Details on the U.S. government's contact tracing efforts remain sparse. Texas officials confirmed they reached two individuals who left the ship on April 24; both reported no symptoms and claimed not to have interacted with any sick passengers. They will monitor their health with daily temperature checks and will contact public health officials if any illness symptoms arise.
Arizona health officials are also monitoring a person who disembarked on April 24, although they do not have precise information regarding the individual’s arrival date in Arizona. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed the state health agency on May 5, at which point monitoring commenced and will continue for 42 days.
Two Canadians who left the ship are now in Ontario and have been advised to self-isolate upon their return.
In addition to contact tracing, scientists are striving to understand the Andes virus better. This particular hantavirus, found in South America, may be one of the few that can transmit between humans. Authorities in Argentina suspect initial cases may have originated from a birdwatching trip in Ushuaia.
While Argentina's Health Ministry has yet to send a team, scientists from the state-funded Malbrán Institute plan to travel to Ushuaia shortly to conduct further investigations.
Research is focused on the virus's genetic makeup to determine if any mutations have made it more transmissible. Experts believe individuals primarily become infectious when symptomatic, and if the virus does spread, it may do so through tiny liquid particles expelled when an infected person talks, coughs, or sneezes.
AP journalists Isabel Debre in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa; Rob Gillies in Toronto; Jill Lawless in London; Suman Naishadham in Madrid; Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
