NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Health officials continue to monitor the hantavirus — a deadly outbreak linked to a cruise ship and isolated cases around the world.
Officials report at least 11 confirmed or suspected cases, including three deaths.
The strain involved — the Andes virus — is the only known form of hantavirus that can spread from person-to-person through prolonged, close contact. It's typically diagnosed after exposure to contaminated rodent waste or saliva.
"This is unique, strange, unusual and rare, but I knew right away because it was so exotic that there would be a great deal of attention devoted to it," started Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt professor of infectious diseases.
While news of the hantavirus is spreading across the country, he said the risk of the virus itself spreading is minimal.
"Relax, step back," he said. "I'll say it again. There will not be widespread virus transmission."
Schaffner, a leading public voice throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, explained while there may be some cases that follow the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak, the hantavirus is not a major public threat. He said it can be serious when someone is infected but it's not highly contagious.
"It has a very different personality than influenza and COVID, which we know can spread very widely, very quickly — [this is] not like it," he said.
Those who may have been exposed — either on the ship, or inadvertently on planes with passengers who left early — are being monitored by health organizations around the world.
"So we've had a bunch of exposed passengers come to the United States. They're in two units, one at Emory University in Atlanta, the other one at Omaha at the University of Nebraska," said Dr. Schaffner.
In a press conference, CDC incident manager Dr. David Fitter says those with possible exposure are encouraged to stay quarantined for up to 6 weeks — although there's no state or federal quarantine orders in place.
"Our top priority is both the passengers who are on the ship and American communities," he told reporters. "This is a known virus, and we've seen this in the United States before, and we know how to respond to it. And that's what we're doing, and we're putting into action all the things that we have in place to ensure that American communities remain safe and healthy."
"We can expect a few more cases as all this plays out, but it's not going to take off or anything like that," concluded Dr. Schaffner.
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