King County Monitors 4th Resident for Andes Hantavirus Exposure From MV Hondius Outbreak
Updated
Updated · KOMO News · May 15
King County Monitors 4th Resident for Andes Hantavirus Exposure From MV Hondius Outbreak
6 articles · Updated · KOMO News · May 15
A fourth King County resident is now being monitored after possible exposure to Andes hantavirus linked to the MV Hondius outbreak, local health officials said Friday.
The resident did not sail on the cruise ship but was on a Johannesburg-to-Amsterdam flight with an ill passenger who was removed before departure and later tested positive.
Officials classified the exposure as low risk because the resident was not seated near the infected passenger; the person has returned to King County, has no symptoms and is self-monitoring.
Three other King County residents were already under monitoring—two who sat near the infected passenger on that flight and one cruise passenger quarantined at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
King County still has 0 confirmed Andes-type hantavirus cases, and officials said community risk remains low even though Andes virus is the only hantavirus known to spread person to person.
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