18 Americans quarantined after rare hantavirus exposure on cruise ship

Añadido: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Now to the latest in the Hanta virus outbreak. Tonight, 18 American citizens potentially exposed to the rare virus on a cruise ship are back on American soil and under quarantine. So far, one of them has tested positive. CBS News Miami's Jesse Mitchell has the update from New York.

[00:00:18]Aerial cameras captured a couple from the MV Hondius cruise ship arriving in Atlanta in full protective gear before they were taken to Emory Hospital. One individual was deemed to be symptomatic on the evaluation prior to leaving the Canary Islands. One is undergoing treatment and the other one is undergoing further evaluation and monitoring. Health officials say more than a dozen other US citizens from the Hanta virus affected cruise ship were admitted to the University of Nebraska quarantine unit Monday. We've been doing symptom monitoring as well as temperature checks. Everyone here is asymptomatic. At least one who tested positive for the Andes strain of the virus remains in bio-containment for close observation.

[00:01:01]>> We assessed that individual. They are doing well, actually. They are currently do not have any symptoms. The rare Andes variant of the Hanta virus linked to the cruise ship outbreak has the potential to spread between people. CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil spoke with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health and acting director of the CDC, about the government's response so far. Why haven't we seen daily briefings on the Hanta virus the way we did around COVID?

[00:01:31]You know, the epidemiological risk is very, very different. It is a a more deadly disease if you get it, but unlike COVID, it's the way that people get it from person to person is much, much more difficult for that to happen.

[00:01:42]>> Hanta virus symptoms can include fever, chills, and muscle aches, which can take up to two months to present themselves.

[00:01:49]Jesse Mitchell, CBS News, New York.