Sacramento County person isolating after possible hantavirus exposure on plane

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]We're going to start with the hantavirus making itself known in our region. One person possibly exposed now being monitored at home in Sacramento County.

[00:00:09]We'll get into the details of that exposure in a second, but first let's go over the latest on that ship quickly now. Today 18 Americans exposed to the hantavirus on the cruise ship are now back in quarantine in Nebraska. Another person has tested positive. Two are also now in Atlanta. And one person who tested positive is in bio-containment for close observation. We uh assessed that individual. Um they are doing well, actually. They are currently do not have any symptoms.

[00:00:37]What about those symptoms? Well, hantavirus symptoms can include fever, chills, and muscle aches, which can take up to two months to present themselves.

[00:00:44]CBS 13's Kayla Moller getting answers from Sacramento County health officials about the person possibly exposed. And Kayla, now back at home and isolating, give us an update on this.

[00:00:56]Yeah, Tony, that's right. Uh health experts say that there are eight cases of hantavirus uh related to this outbreak. No one in California has hantavirus. However, four Californians have been exposed.

[00:01:13]And um they are not exhibiting any symptoms. Uh they also remain healthy so far, including that Sacramento County resident.

[00:01:22]So, about 30 to 40% of people with hantavirus pulmonary infection um will die.

[00:01:29]>> Hantavirus has been making international headlines after an outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship in April and early May.

[00:01:36]While human-to-human spread is rare, the California Department of Health says there's been eight cases, and four Californians have been potentially exposed to the virus. One of them, a Sacramento County resident, who's back home self-monitoring. The risk is very low to the general public. This is one individual. The Sac County resident was on a flight out of South Africa sitting within a row of a person sick with Andes hantavirus, the only strain capable of human to human spread. But the infected person was removed from the flight prior to take off. So health officials anticipate exposure to have been around 15 minutes.

[00:02:15]>> And generally it takes prolonged intimate close contact to result in transmission. Health experts say there's no need for panic. While the mortality rate is high, the chance for widespread outbreaks is very low. It's just not as infectious as other other respiratory pathogens that we're familiar with like COVID for example or flu. Almost all the cases that we've seen have been for example couples who sleep together and are together all the time. As for the other exposed Californians, two of them are currently at a secure medical facility in Nebraska and the other is self-isolating at home in the Bay Area.

[00:02:56]The Sacramento County Public Health Officer, Dr. Olivia Casiraghi, says they were notified of the Sac County resident's potential exposure over the weekend. They've been in daily contact with that person, checking in to monitor any symptoms that may arise. We have also instructed the individual to remain in quarantine for the 42-day period.

[00:03:17]Hantavirus has an incubation period of 1 to 6 weeks. Symptoms begin similar to the flu with fever, coughing, and muscle aches, but can quickly turn into respiratory failure.

[00:03:31]Yeah, again, to be clear, nobody in California has tested positive for that Andes strain so far. However, uh Sac County says that they do have a plan in place if that Sac County resident does start showing symptoms. Um but again, that person is going to be self-isolating and quarantine, daily check-in calls for the next 42 days.