Kansas monitoring 3 people with possible hantavirus exposure

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Welcome back into KCTV 5 Plus. I'm Katie Bird. It is actually 1:48 p.m. here on your Tuesday afternoon and we just got word of some breaking news out of Topeka, Kansas. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment in coordination with the CDC and the local health department is monitoring three people with a high-risk exposure to a person with confirmed Andes Haunt virus. We are gathering information here as I speak.

[00:00:31]Want to go ahead and break down everything we know. And again, according to the state, three people were exposed to someone with the Andes haunted virus who had been on the MV Hondaius cruise ship. The three individuals in Kansas were not aboard the cruise ship. I want to make that very clear. And they are not currently experiencing symptoms.

[00:00:54]This is according to the KDH. So to protect their privacy, no more information will be shared on them.

[00:01:03]However, based on the current knowledge of the Andes virus, individuals are not considered infectious to others unless they become symptomatic. So under CDC guidance, high-risisk exposure may include long close contact or sharing living space with someone who has symptoms or close proximity during travel. And again, at this time, there are no suspected or confirmed cases of haunt virus in Kansas. And the KDH continues to assess the risk to the public from the Andes haunt virus as extremely low. And again, while haunt viruses are usually spread through wild rodent dropping, urine, and saliva, the Andes strain is known to be able to spread from person to person. And again, this is according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Want to go ahead and walk us through some symptoms for the virus infection. They usually begin, you guys. It can have a rather long incubation period. This is something that I think is important. So, symptoms can start between four and 42 days after an exposure. So if you think about that 42 days from now, I mean, we're pushing late June. So early symptoms, just so you're aware again, there is a very low risk. So fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, and gastrointest gastrointestinal symptoms, excuse me. So want to walk you guys through a little bit more information.

[00:02:35]Got all of the details pulled up as on my phone. Literally broke this a couple minutes ago. So several days after the onset of initial symptoms, people can develop a severe illness that affects lungs causing cough, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. This is according to health experts. There is no specific treatment available and again probably due to the rarity of this illness, but care focuses on supporting the person through their illness. Listen again.