CDC Classifies Hantavirus Outbreak as Level 3 Emergency

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified the ongoing hantavirus outbreak as a level 3 emergency on Friday, according to a report by ABC News. The designation prompted the agency to activate its Emergency Operations Center and assemble a response team that may include epidemiologists, scientists and physicians.

A level 3 classification is the lowest of the CDC's emergency activation levels and is standard at this stage while the agency actively monitors the virus's progress. Also on Friday, two new suspected cases of hantavirus were reported as health authorities work to contain an outbreak that began aboard the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius.

The vessel left Argentina in March carrying around 150 passengers, stopped in the Antarctic and other locations, and later sailed north to waters off Cape Verde, west of Africa, where it was held briefly after the cases became known.

News reported on Friday that the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization could affect the country's response to the outbreak. Health officials told the network that without membership, the United States might not have immediate access to surveillance data on the virus or contact-tracing information for cases linked to the cruise ship.

Such tracking is viewed as useful in preventing further infections. The hantavirus is described as a deadly virus, though specific fatality rates or transmission details were not included in the reports. The CDC headquarters is located in Atlanta. Images from May 6 showed a convoy of ambulances, escorted by Dutch police, arriving near Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands carrying at least one passenger from the ship believed to be infected.