US CDC: Hantavirus Risk to Public Remains Low; Patient with Mild Symptoms Tests Negative

Central News Agency, Washington, 13th (Comprehensive Foreign Report) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasized today that the risk of hantavirus to the general public remains quite low. Additionally, a patient who had exhibited mild hantavirus symptoms tested negative and has been discharged from a biocontainment unit.

According to Reuters and AFP, this patient is one of 18 individuals being monitored who were evacuated to the United States. They were recently evacuated from the cruise ship 'MV Hondius,' where a hantavirus outbreak occurred, and are currently under observation in U.S. medical facilities.

According to officials, 16 of them are at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, while the other two are in Atlanta, Georgia, with one of them showing mild symptoms.

This patient with mild symptoms is currently being treated at Emory University Hospital in Georgia and has tested negative for the Andes strain of hantavirus. Medical staff are continuing to monitor the health of this person and their asymptomatic partner.

Furthermore, the U.S. CDC stated at a press conference that another patient who had previously shown a 'weakly positive' reaction to hantavirus is still awaiting further test results.

This weakly positive patient was initially placed in the biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center but was transferred to a national quarantine facility for observation with others after a medical evaluation confirmed their condition was stable.

In this luxury cruise ship outbreak, three people have died worldwide from hantavirus infection, and seven others have been confirmed positive.

A U.S. CDC official emphasized today that the risk posed by hantavirus to the general public remains very low, and more than 100 CDC staff members are currently involved in the response efforts.

Brendan Jackson, the leader of the CDC team in Nebraska, also stated that the CDC is conducting public health assessment work on-site. (Translation: Hung Pei-ying) 1150514