Cruise ship passenger at Emory University Hospital tests negative for hantavirus
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A former passenger on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship taken to Emory University Hospital for care has tested negative for the Andes variant, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The passenger was experiencing minor symptoms. A person who spent time in close proximity with them is also being monitored at Emory.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gov. Kemp on patients coming to Atlanta from hantavirus-hit ship: ‘It’s just the right thing to do’
Emory and CDC officials did not respond to questions about the care plan for the patients or if the second patient has been tested yet.
During a news conference at the Georgia State Capitol on Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp said the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and nearby Emory University Hospital are capable of addressing the emerging hantavirus.
“We’re as prepared as any state in the country to do this, and it’s just the right thing to do,” he said.
The MV Hondius cruise ship was hit by hantavirus, a rare but potentially deadly disease, in April as it sailed the south Atlantic Ocean. Since then, passengers have been evacuated and shuttled to several different treatment centers, including the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also said 16 Americans who arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center on Monday are asymptomatic.
So far, three people who were on the cruise ship have died, while at least nine hantavirus cases have been confirmed. All the positive cases are the Andes strain, the only version of the disease known to spread from human to human.
The CDC has declared a Level 3 emergency response to the outbreak. It’s the agency’s lowest emergency response level, indicating that while the CDC is actively monitoring the situation, the risk to the general public is low.
Some health professionals are calling for more resources to help prevent and treat infectious diseases.
“People shouldn’t be worried for the transmissibility factor [of the hantavirus]. People should be worried, however, because our overall readiness for pandemics has been dramatically degraded with our withdrawal from the World Health Organization and the cuts made to the CDC’s ability to respond and investigate such crises,” said Dr. MG Finn, a biochemist at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First as we learn more.
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