State health officials reiterated Wednesday that the risk to public health from hantavirus remains very low, even as the health department keeps tabs on two Maryland residents who were potentially exposed to the rare infectious disease during recent air travel.
“This is an evolving public health situation, and we will continue to provide updates as they become available,” Deputy Director of Public Health Services Meg Sullivan said a during call with reporters Wednesday. “At this time, we are not asking or recommending the general public take any additional measures in regards to this outbreak.”
On Monday, the Maryland Department of Health announced it was monitoring two Marylanders who briefly shared a plane with one of the passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, where a recent outbreak of hantavirus made headlines.
The two Maryland residents were not passengers on the cruise ship and were only “briefly” exposed to the infected individual during air travel, the health department is monitoring their symptoms “out of an abundance of caution.”
“We are coordinating closely with our federal partners and taking these steps out of an abundance of caution to monitor these two individuals in accordance with current guidance,” Sullivan said.
When they announced the potential exposure cases in a written statement Monday, state officials noted that no hantavirus cases have been identified in Maryland since 2019. The department is not releasing any more identifying information about the individuals, including which county or counties they are located in, to protect their privacy.
Hantavirus refers to a family of viruses that can cause Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which starts with flu-like symptoms and can lead to life-threatening respiratory symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The outbreak from the cruise has so far resulted in 11 reported cases across several countries and three deaths. Federal health officials said one individual in the United States had tested “mildly” positive. It later clarified that the individual had two specimens for testing which resulted in one positive result and one negative result. Federal officials are awaiting further tests results.
The strain of hantavirus that has been associated with the cruise ship outbreak is known as the Andes virus, which is the only known version of hantavirus that is able to spread person-to-person. Most other strains are passed to humans by rodents.
Sullivan said that the two individuals are “monitoring themselves for any signs and symptoms” and are in daily communication with the health department.
That said, she did not state whether the two individuals were being asked to quarantine during the monitoring period.
“We are in daily contact with the individuals, asking them to self-monitor, report back to us regarding health and symptom monitoring, and then take appropriate activity modification in accordance with the current CDC guidance and guidance from other federal partners. We have not encountered any issues at this point,” she said.
“What I can say, without trying to go into specific details, that the guidance is based on minimizing any risk to other Marylanders or other public based on what activities they’re doing,” Sullivan said.
Just this week, 36 passengers on the infected cruise ship who are U.S. residents are quarantining in their home states or quarantining in medical facilities.
The incubation period for hantavirus symptoms to develop can be up to 42 days, which is how long the cruise ship passengers are expected to quarantine. It’s also how long the state health department plans to monitor the two Marylanders who were briefly exposed to one of the ship passengers on a flight.
“This is a lengthier incubation period than we see with other viruses,” Sullivan said. “What we know about this type of virus, individuals are generally not considered infectious if they do not have symptoms. We are watching them closely to see if they develop symptoms.”
