Santa Clara County resident exposed to hantavirus on cruise ship, health officials confirm

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]All of this is creating a lot of anxiety for some people here in the Bay Area with COVID still fresh on a lot of people's minds.

[00:00:07]>> So, Dollin spoke with some local experts.

[00:00:11]That passenger who is now home in the South Bay likely got off the cruise ship back on April 24th. So, it's been more than 2 weeks. It's unclear when that passenger returned to Santa Clara County and when local officials learned about it. They just released the information this weekend.

[00:00:31]Health officials say the Santa Clara County passenger was exposed to the Andes Hantavirus. The person is home and has no symptoms and does not appear to be sick, but experts say the incubation period is roughly 6 to 8 weeks. That's why local, state, and federal health workers continue to monitor the passenger. They're being monitored, so that typically means they get symptom checks twice a day, temperature, etc. And maybe PCR tests for Hantavirus twice a week.

[00:01:00]>> Dr. Peter Chin-Hong is a professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at UCSF. He says the risk to the public is extremely low. The same message repeated by Santa Clara County public health officials who are closely checking on the passenger. They released a video, but did not take any questions regarding the passenger. The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department is monitoring and evaluating a returning traveler who was exposed to the Andes Hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship.

[00:01:30]This monitoring is happening in close coordination with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control.

[00:01:38]At this time, there is no known risk to the public in Santa Clara County. Even with the reassurance, many Bay Area residents remain concerned. Knowing that's so close to home is a little frightening and like nerve-wracking. Joy Johnson caught COVID-19 twice. She, like many others, does not want to relive that trauma and fear. We've gone through a recent pandemic like literally like not even that long ago and it took us so long to recover.

[00:02:04]>> The Andes Hantavirus requires prolonged and close contact for transmission.

[00:02:09]>> Not easily transmittable. You can't get it from going to Starbucks or Trader Joe's. Because of medical privacy laws, health officials cannot release much information about that Santa Clara County passenger. We don't know the person's age, gender, or where that person has been since returning home.