Hantavirus Update: History, Americans in quarantine, why you need not worry

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:02]It looks like most folks have joined.

[00:00:06]So, thank you again for all of you for joining us for our virtual media availability today. Um, we will uh start with brief opening remarks from um Carl Williams and Kimberly Clement and then we will open it up to questions. So, please hold all questions till the end.

[00:00:24]You're welcome to either raise your hand or uh put your questions in the chat box and we will do our best to get to as many as we can in the short time we have available. We are recording um the uh recording of this availability will be available afterwards if you would like it. Um so we with that we'll go ahead and start with our opening remarks.

[00:00:49]>> Hi everybody. Uh thanks for joining. My name is Carl Williams. I'm the state public health veterinarian in the communicable disease branch of the division of public health and uh again appreciate you being here. So we're here to talk about the cluster of hunto virus cases that was initially reported by the world health organization associated with travel on a cruise ship. Uh what we know about this is that there are uh patients that have become infected with Andes virus which is a particular type of haunt virus that is unique to Argentina. People have become sick. Uh and three people have died. None of them have been Americans. The most recent update from the World Health Organization is from May 8th and you can find detailed information about the outbreak there.

[00:01:42]And there were Americans on the ship that have been uh repatriated back to Nebraska, which is where they remain, except for two that have gone on to Emmery University.

[00:01:57]So, there are about 17 uh Americans that are still in Nebraska and being assessed and they may remain there or they may actually come home to their home states and we are still in communication with our federal partners on that to determine exactly what's going to happen. Uh but that is kind of the status of the situation at the moment and I think we'd be happy to take any questions that you have unless um yeah I think we just start there.

[00:02:33]>> Yeah. Thank you Carl. So um whoever has questions you're welcome to either put it in the chat or uh raise your hand and we will go one at a time.

[00:02:49]Hi. Can you hear me?

[00:02:51]>> Yes. Go ahead, Lucy.

[00:02:52]>> Hey, so um right now I think we're just kind of wanting to know is this kind of a concern that North Carolinians need to be, uh focused on right now. I think that there's a lot of misconception um as far as how uh dangerous it might be to the public right now.

[00:03:11]>> Sure. I think a little bit of perspective and background on these viruses might help. Uh these are not new viruses. So you may or may not remember the original outbreak of hontovirus pulmonary syndrome in 1993 in the western United States in the four corners region that was caused by a particular haunt virus called synomere virus and it did uh cause a large number of cases including fatalities.

[00:03:42]Um, so this is a disease that's likely been present in North America for some time, but most cases are from the western United States. It's rare to see it in the eastern United States, but what we know because this became reportable in 1995, including in North Carolina. We all the states have been doing surveillance for HANA virus since then. We've only had one case identified in North Carolina and that was in 1995.

[00:04:12]That was with another haunt virus that we think was Mananga virus. There have been cases in Florida associated with Black Creek Canal viruses and what I'm getting at here is there are a lot of different types of haunt viruses and not all of them occur in the United States and most of them don't occur in North Carolina. In fact, again, in the southeast, it's an extremely rare disease. These viruses also co-evolve with their rodent reservoir. So, it's not like Andes virus is going to become established in the United States. This is something that is concerning if you live in Argentina or you travel there. Uh likewise, if you travel to or visit the Four Corners region or parts of California where this dis disease is endemic, yes, it could be a concern, but it's really not something we'd suggest that people should worry about here in North Carolina. It's something we've known about for a long time. In fact, the original outbreak of Andes virus was first characterized in Argentina in 1996. So, these are not new viruses.

[00:05:25]Thank you. We'll go to our next question which I believe is Anna King.

[00:05:30]>> Yes. So, really quickly, um we did see that uh there were some who were able to return home but were not required to quarantine um as much as I guess encouraged. Why is that? And can we expect that to continue with I think the one person who was on the boat from North Carolina or on the cruise ship from North Carolina?

[00:05:51]Yes, our understanding is that there were some people including some people from the United States that left the ship early and they have returned to their home state. They did it in advance of the State Department coordinated repatriation and you can find press release notices from California and Virginia about this.

[00:06:15]However, once the State Department became involved and the rest of the American citizens were identified, they were handled as a group. So, they were all first taken to Buffett Air Force Base and then University of Nebraska Medical Center, which is where they all remain again, except for two that were transported onto Emory. And I don't know outside of the person who is from North Carolina where the rest of them are from. Presumably they will those plans are being made with their respective states >> those plans including uh quarantining or not quarantining.

[00:06:54]>> So the CDC is not using the word quarantine uh but they are uh keeping them uh for a risk assessment and clinical monitoring at Nebraska and the people are free to stay there if they wish to.

[00:07:11]We'll go to our next question in the chat from Patricia. She's asking if there's any additional details we can share about the North Carolina resident.

[00:07:23]>> So, no, at this point we're not sharing any information about the person.

[00:07:31]We'll go to our next question in the chat. Are we able to confirm if the North Carolina resident is positive or simply being monitored in Nebraska and will that passenger continued to be monitored there or at home?

[00:07:48]>> So the they are being monitored in Nebraska. If they stay there, they will continue to be monitored and if they come home, they would be monitored by their respective local health department.

[00:08:04]They have not been tested as far as I know, but I would say that testing for haunt virus is rapidly evolving. New diagnostics are being developed as we speak. So, I don't think any of them have been tested, but don't take my word for that.

[00:08:24]>> We also had an additional question in the chat about if this person returns home, how would that person be transported?

[00:08:36]Kimberly, >> happy to take that. Sure, I'm happy to take that, Carl. Um, good afternoon.

[00:08:40]Thanks for joining. My name is Kimberly Clement. I'm the assistant chief of preparedness and strategic operations for the office of EMS.

[00:08:48]We are in close contact with a lot of different partners, local, state, federal, on what the transportation would look like. that has not been finalized at this point, but we would ensure that any plans that we put in place make sure that both the patient well all three actually the patient the healthcare workers if they're involved and the public are completely safe um during that process. So until we know more information we can't really finalize those details but we are um in process of plans and communication on that coordination when it occurs when or if it occurs I guess. Thank you. Just to keep track of all these questions that we still got going on, um we have a question from CVS 17. Are there any myths about the virus that you would like to address? Um given some misconceptions that tend to be out in the public.

[00:09:43]>> I I don't know of any myths offhand, but I think you know this is we've seen and I saw there was an interview um with Dr. wool and he was characterizing that this is not another co likes virus. This is a virus that is not easily transmitted. So it is this is not something that's going to become a a pandemic. Yes, there are localized outbreaks of it, but they tend to be um they're nothing like CO, so it's not going to spread like that. And again, they're they're closely associated with the rodent reservoir.

[00:10:22]And the rodent that is the reservoir for Andy's virus, we don't have in North Carolina. So, we're not it's even if the virus were to somehow make its way here, it wouldn't become established in animal populations here.

[00:10:39]>> Thank you. Um, one more from the chat before we go to you, Patrick. Um, for those who have exotic pets or may keep mice or rats in their homes, is there anything that they should keep in mind?

[00:10:55]>> Yeah. Well, um, this is a a bit of a fun fact. We are one of four states in North Carolina that doesn't regulate at a state level the possession or ownership of exotic or non-native animals. So people do have a lot of exotic pets in North Carolina, but again these animals come with their own set of risks, but Andes virus is not going to be one of them. So I would only be concerned about, you know, again, what you what they have typically been associated to harbor or transmit to humans. And when you're talking about exotic pets, things like mice and reptiles, you're talking about um things like rat bite fever or salmonosis. They are capable of carrying other uh zonatic pathogens, but not Andy's virus.

[00:11:52]>> Thank you. Okay, Patrick, we'll go to you.

[00:11:57]>> Thank you. Hey, Dr. Williams, thank you for taking the time to talk with us a little bit today. I'm curious although that we now know that this is different than co 19 how does the coordinated effort mass communication with local state and federal partners as well as the importance of clear messaging sort of bring up reminders uh from the past.

[00:12:22]Well, I think in public health we do this every day. A lot of times it doesn't grab the attention like Andy's virus, but we have a system in place from the CDC down to the states and to the local health departments, all of the individual states and their local health departments to coordinate on responses to communicable or infectious diseases.

[00:12:47]And I'm sure that people may see this and be concerned about COVID again, but they they should not be. I mean, this virus is distinctly different from CO.

[00:12:59]It's again, it's not something that's novel like that virus was. This is something that's been known for quite some time, 30 years now, and it just doesn't transmit as easily as CO and it doesn't cause those largecale outbreaks like CO. So, I think I don't know if I answered your question, but we work collaboratively on trying to disseminate useful and truthful information as much as possible. And this is, you know, this is one of them.

[00:13:29]>> If I can just quickly add, I think Carl's absolutely correct. This is something that um our public health team deals with regularly, but we also have a lot of exercises and a lot of preparedness meetings and planning that happens all throughout the year. Um we actually did a full-scale exercise on a similar type scenario last year that is very similar to this within the state.

[00:13:51]And so that is something that we are always preparing for, always ready to deal with. And that includes that coordination with our federal partners, our other state partner agencies, um, local agencies, and a lot of other entities that are part of those discussions. And the exercise last year, it included the airport, it included highway patrol, it included lots and lots of partners just in case we needed to bring them in. So, I think it's important to say that this is a very different situation, but we are practiced for it and it's something that we're ready and prepared for in North Carolina.

[00:14:24]>> Thank you. Uh we'll go back to the chat with a few more questions. Um we have a question from NC Newsine. Um as you've noted, there's no need for real concern for the general public about this turning into um a CO 19. But if you are someone who may be taking a cruise or traveling this summer, are there things you can do in general to stay healthy?

[00:14:48]>> Sure. I think you know the the general recommendations you hear from public health all the time apply and that's to make sure number one that you and your family and your children are up to date on all your recommended vaccinations.

[00:15:04]um when you uh travel, you know, the cruise ship industry has historically been associated with neurovirus outbreaks, which is a gastrointestinal illness, although they've made a lot of strides in improving that and reducing the number of outbreaks. It brings to mind, you know, hand washing and basic cleanliness. Always wash your hands, you know, before you eat, after you use the restroom, things of that sort. Um, I think when you're, you know, anytime you, uh, have that many people together in that small of a space, it's there's, you never know what can really happen. But I think that just basic precautions are what we'd recommend. And, you know, cruises happen all the time. Lots of people are on cruises all the time without incident. And what we hear about are these rare circumstances.

[00:15:58]And I don't think that's representative of the of the whole industry. Having said that, again, I'd say get your vaccines, wash your hands, and of course at home, as we're heading into the summer months, we always recommend that you do things like if you have people over, cook your food thoroughly, and there's ways to prevent food born illness. Basic public health messaging.

[00:16:21]>> Thank you. Along those same lines, we've also received a question in the chat um about how the virus spreads. They understand that it spreads through prolonged close contact um like the cruise ship cruise ship situation. Um are there any other areas where we might see similar concerns for spread? They included an example like tight quarters of a college dorm.

[00:16:46]>> Yeah, I suppose if you're talking about Andes virus, those could be theoretical risks of exposure in Argentina and Chile. What we've seen in the United States with our native haunt viruses, especially synumbre virus, is that it's really when people are exposed to infected rodents and their fe and these are wild rodents, these are not pets, but infected rodents and their feces and they're aerosolized and people become infected.

[00:17:16]Uh, so I think that, you know, anything's possible. Never say never, but I think with this virus that, you know, spreading in a college dorm, certainly that's not something we're worried about in the United States.

[00:17:34]>> Thank you. I saw in the chat Elena from ABC11 um had a question. I don't see her on.

[00:17:44]If you're still on, you're welcome to ask your question.

[00:17:55]Okay. If not, we'll move we'll move along unless she comes back. Um, next question in the chat. We've seen responses from the CDC. Um, but we've yet to hear a public address or conference from those health experts.

[00:18:09]How have the discussions been between um us here at the state and our federal counterparts? And how does this differ from what we saw during CO 19?

[00:18:21]>> Well, the CDC has been scheduling regular meetings with uh states to inform them about this. So, from my uh point of view, they're being communicative and sharing the information. And again, this is something that is uh you know, while the virus is not new, the situation is new and they're working through this just like we are. So, I'm sure they'll be communicating more in the future. I know they will with the states.

[00:18:54]Another question from the chat. How has social media andor the spread of misinformation made um your job challenging, if at all?

[00:19:06]Yeah, I'm not sure.

[00:19:07]>> I think that's something Yeah, I think that's something that we deal with regularly in emergency response. Um, we've seen that change a lot over the last several years. Misinformation and even more concerning disinformation has been a major thing that we have to address. I think one of the things that we continue to push and and would love help pushing is to find your trusted leaders who have that information, your trusted sources. Um, you know, we we include you all in some of those with the weather. things like that, telling people figure out who is that trust and source. Don't just read it online and take that for what is gonna happen or what is the truth. Um I think you know local emergency management deals with that regularly trying to put out briefings. So when we're not in the middle of an event like this, find who those trusted sources are and make sure that you're listening to them during these events, which really helps decrease that that spread of misinformation and disinformation and ultimately does make the response easier. Our next question, uh, what does this outbreak tell us about how closely human health is tied to environmental factors?

[00:20:18]>> Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think the environment is always uh a source of uh, you know, we can't live independent of it. uh but I think it's a reminder that animal health and human health and the proximity of human animals, humans and animals can have uh can have an impact on on human health. I think um you know we see this every day in North Carolina with other diseases like like rabies uh where we're surrounded by it all the time in our wildlife population and in uh places like New Mexico again they are that they are they have haunt virus naturally occurring in their environment and that's something they they have to deal with and then also in other parts of the world. So, I think it just reminds us that we're linked and uh you know, we need to take care of the environment as much as we take care of each other.

[00:21:17]>> Thank you. Um our next question, what resources does the state currently have in place in case of a honorus outbreak and how would those resources be deployed?

[00:21:30]Well, again, it's we respond to all of the reportable diseases if there's an outbreak in one of them. And again, hivirus pulmonary syn syndrome has been a reportable disease here since 1995.

[00:21:46]We have not had an outbreak of it. Uh thankfully, in fact, none of the southeastern states have to my knowledge outside of sporadic cases. But our team in the communicable disease branch, we work closely with our uh university and medical partners. We work closely with all of the 86 local health departments.

[00:22:10]We work with Kimberly and her team and OEM and emergency management. So we can bring together a pretty large team in a pretty short period of time to deal with whatever it is that comes up because certainly we've had outbreaks in the state before they just haven't been haunt virus. So yeah, I believe that is all the questions we currently have, but I'll give it just a few more seconds in case anyone else has a question that has not been addressed.

[00:22:45]You're welcome to raise your hand or put it in the chat.

[00:23:02]Okay, I'm not seeing any more questions at this time. So, thank you all again for joining us. Um, again, we are recording this and we'll have it available if you need the recording afterward. And if you have any other questions that may come up later, you're welcome to reach out to our press team um at news dhhs.nc.gov.

[00:23:24]And thank you for attending and thank you for your coverage of this