No
OverviewHantaviruses are a group of viruses found naturally in rodents that rarely cause disease in humans. Humans usually get hantavirus from contact with rodents, especially when exposed to their urine, droppings, or saliva. Hantaviruses are found globally, with variants in different areas of the world.
New World Hantaviruses found in the Western Hemisphere, including here in the United States, can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a severe and potentially deadly disease that affects the lungs.
Human infections typically start with mild flu-like symptoms, including respiratory and gastrointestinal distress, that can lead to severe lung, heart, or other organ damage.
Early symptoms can include:
- Headache
- Fever
- Muscle aches/back pain
- Cough
- Chest pain
- Loss of appetite
- Difficulty breathing
- Abdominal problems (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain)
Nebraska has
reported fewer than 10 hantavirus cases since 1993.
Recent M/V Hondius Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak Information
There is no threat to public safety.
The strain involved in the recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is the Andes virus, the most common type of hantavirus in South America and the only known hantavirus capable of spreading person-to-person through prolonged close contact with an ill person.
After being exposed to the Andes virus, symptoms can start anywhere from 4 to 42 days later, but most people start feeling sick on average 18 days after exposure.
People with the Andes virus have not been known to spread it to others before they start showing symptoms.
For more information:
National Quarantine Unit and Nebraska Biocontainment Unit
Nebraska is home to the only National Quarantine Unit (NQU) in the United States, as well as one of only 13 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs), both located at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU), a collaborative project between Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was dedicated in 2005. As a result of federal funding aimed at infectious disease preparedness, the NBU was established to provide safe treatment and care for patients infected with special pathogens.
National Quarantine Unit: National Quarantine Center/ Training, Simulation, & Quarantine Center | Global Center for Health Security | University of Nebraska Medical Center
Nebraska Biocontainment Unit: NBU | RESPTC | Global Center for Health Security | University of Nebraska Medical Center