4 Californians monitored after possible exposure to rare Andes hantavirus linked to cruise ship

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Tonight, four Californians are under a close watch after being exposed to haunt virus. It is connected to the deadly cruise ship outbreak of the rare strain of the virus. State health officials say the exposed people so far are not showing symptoms, which of course is a good thing. Experts say the incubation period though is up to 6 to 8 weeks. So all are still being very closely monitored, getting daily symptom and temperature checks and limiting exposure risks. We're told three of the four were passengers on that cruise ship, while the fourth actually sat next to an infected person briefly before taking off on an international flight. Health concerns have spread across the globe, but as Kevin Co reports, officials say there is no public danger here at home.

[00:00:46]>> I want to be really clear, we have no cases from California residents. There are no infected people. There are people who may have been exposed. Four Californians have been under the watchful eye of state and federal health officials after they came dangerously close to the Andes Honda virus stemming from the MVHIAS cruise ship on the other side of the world. The latest case of potential exposure came over the weekend from Sacramento County.

[00:01:10]>> Our department was just notified over the weekend of a fourth exposed person who was not aboard the MVHandas cruise ship but was exposed to an ill passenger from the ship on an aircraft in South Africa. The ill-f flight passenger was later one of the cases confirmed to have Andy's habirus.

[00:01:27]>> None of the four Californians are showing any symptoms, but two are being monitored at a federal facility in Nebraska. California Director of Public Health Dr. Erica Pon says there is very little risk the disease spreads.

[00:01:40]>> It has only been associated with rare humanto human transmission after close and prolonged contact with a sick infected person.

[00:01:47]That being said, this is a dynamic and evolving investigation and response, and we are always learning new things, and we may learn more from this unusual outbreak on a small cruise ship.

[00:01:57]>> Cruise ships are often compared to petri dishes, as they are ripe environments for spreading infections. With 80 cabins for 170 passengers, the MVHandius is even smaller than your typical cruise liner. Health officials say the Andes Haunt virus can spread among people who live together or are at least two seats away from an infected patient for at least 15 minutes. Over the weekend, Santa Clara County public health officials said they were closely monitoring the exposed patient.

[00:02:25]>> At this time, there is no known risk to the public in Santa Clara County.

[00:02:30]>> While the threat to public health remains low, concerns remain due to the deadly nature of the disease.

[00:02:36]>> Unfortunately, there is no treatment for haunt virus. is really supportive care only. So there are no antivirals that work for haunt virus.

[00:02:45]>> Of course I think after co a lot of people are a little bit skittish hearing stories like these. Health officials say that they think that this will not be like the co9 pandemic as again humanto human transmission appears to be somewhat rare. And the exposed Californians aren't alone. At least 18 US citizens are back on American soil after leaving that ship. Jesse Mitchell explains how health experts are treating them