Canadian Cruise Passenger Tests Positive for Hantavirus

A Canadian passenger who was one of four people repatriated from the MV Hondius cruise ship has tested positive for hantavirus, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. The individual was taken to a hospital Thursday along with their partner, who also sailed on the ship. Both showed symptoms of the virus, though the partner has tested negative so far.

18 American passengers from the ship are now under monitoring at the quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Two passengers who had been held at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta were transferred to Nebraska on May 15. The total number of confirmed and probable hantavirus cases connected to the MV Hondius stands at 11.

This includes two confirmed deaths and one suspected death.

Health officials in Washington state are tracking a hantavirus case unrelated to the cruise ship. The person became infected after exposure to a rodent, and the strain does not spread person to person. Officials in Ontario County, New York, are investigating a suspected hantavirus case involving a Geneva High School student.

The county health department stated the case is not linked to the cruise ship and poses no risk to the general public.