UTMB Galveston Readies for Hantavirus Patients After 3 Die in Cruise Outbreak

1 articles · Updated · KHOU.com · May 12

UTMB Galveston, one of 13 U.S. biohazard units, is prepared to receive patients from the cruise-ship hantavirus outbreak that killed three passengers and sickened others.
Investigators in Argentina suspect the infections began during a birdwatching trip in Ushuaia, though local officials say the virus has not previously been detected in that province.
Some patients were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, while UTMB serves as the Region 6 treatment center under the national special pathogens network.
Andes virus—the strain tied to the outbreak—usually spreads through rodent contamination but may rarely pass between people, prompting extra precautions for returning passengers.
WHO says the risk to the general public remains low, but hantavirus can turn life-threatening quickly and has no specific cure; the pulmonary form is fatal in about 35% of cases.

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