Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
1 American Tests Positive For Hantavirus As US Passengers From Cruise Ship Arrive In Nebraska
CNN: American Passengers From Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship, Including One Presumed Positive, Arrive In Nebraska For Evaluation
American passengers from the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak, including at least one presumed positive case, arrived in Nebraska early Monday for evaluation at a highly specialized quarantine unit before eventually continuing on to their homes – and weeks of monitoring for symptoms of infection. (Boyette and Park, 5/11)
NBC News: Video: Inside The Facility Monitoring Americans Exposed To Hantavirus
Take a look inside the facility monitoring Americans exposed to hantavirus. (5/11)
Los Angeles Times: Californian Exposed To Hantavirus Lives In The Bay Area, Officials Say
A Bay Area resident who was stuck on a cruise ship during a deadly hantavirus outbreak has returned to Santa Clara County and is being monitored by health officials. The Santa Clara County Public Health Department confirmed Sunday that a county resident has returned to California after being exposed to the Andes hantavirus while on the MV Hondius. Three people on board the luxury cruise ship have died, and at least nine others have suspected cases. (Ellis, 5/10)
ABC News: Hantavirus Outbreak: American Oncologist Who Became Cruise Ship's De Facto Head Doctor Speaks To ABC News
After the doctor on the cruise ship MV Hondius contracted the hantavirus, an American doctor onboard jumped into action to help passengers navigate the outbreak. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, an oncologist from Bend, Oregon, told ABC News that he quickly realized he was leading the response to a full-blown medical crisis on board the cruise ship. (Rulli and Jovanovic, 5/9)
MedPage Today: CDC Alerts Clinicians About Potential For Imported Hantavirus Cases
The CDC has issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) health advisory on hantavirus, urging clinicians to be aware of the potential for imported cases of hantavirus disease in connection with an outbreak of Andes virus aboard a cruise ship. While the risk of broad spread in the U.S. is "considered extremely unlikely at this time," the agency noted that early symptoms can be easily confused with influenza or other viral illnesses. (Fiore, 5/9)
Also —
France 24: French Evacuee From Hantavirus-Hit Ship Tests Positive, Health Minister Says
France on Monday reported its first case of hantavirus when a French national aboard a virus-linked ship tested positive for the disease, said French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist. The woman, one of five French passengers flown back from the MV Hondius and placed in isolation in Paris, started to feel very unwell on Sunday night and "tests came back positive", Rist told the France Inter radio broadcaster. The four other French passengers from the ship tested negative, but will be re-tested, she added. Health authorities said they have so far identified 22 hantavirus contact cases in France. (5/11)
The Guardian: British Paratroopers Land On Tristan Da Cunha For Suspected Hantavirus Case
Paratroopers landed on a “golf course covered in rocks” to supply medical personnel and oxygen to Britain’s most remote overseas territory as it deals with a suspected hantavirus case, an army commander has said. The UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday that a British national had disembarked from the cruise ship MV Hondius to the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus. (5/10)
NBC News: Birders Push Back On Hantavirus Fears Tied To Argentine City
The hantavirus outbreak on a cruise that departed from Argentina last month has cast an unwelcome spotlight on Tierra del Fuego, a region well known for its biodiversity and bird-watching, authorities and guides say. Now, bird-watching may be at the epicenter of the outbreak on board the MV Hondius, in which three people have died and five others were sickened. The World Health Organization has said the first person with a confirmed case may have been exposed to rodents — which can carry hantavirus — while on a birding trip. (Romero and Lenthang, 5/10)
ABC News: How Argentina Kept The Hantavirus At Bay During A 2019 Outbreak
As health officials around the world rush to treat and contain the hantavirus outbreak from a cruise ship, they will likely look at how Argentina headed off a similar outbreak and minimized its spread. From November 2018 through February 2019, the country experienced an outbreak that resulted in 34 confirmed infections and 11 deaths all linked back to the Andes virus, the same hantavirus strain believed to have been found in the patients from the cruise ship. (Benadjaoud and Pereira, 5/8)
USA Today: Hantavirus Almost Killed Her 30 Years Ago. Here’s What It Was Like.
She caught hantavirus 30 years ago, and it nearly killed her. Here's what she wants you to know. (Trepany, 5/11)
The Wall Street Journal: The Next Frontier For Hantavirus: Finding Vaccines And Treatments
Drug hunters have searched for years for a treatment for the rare infectious disease hantavirus, which caused an outbreak on a cruise ship that global public health officials are now racing to contain. The latest outbreak, which has killed three people and sickened five others, adds increased urgency to those efforts. While hantavirus is generally contracted through exposure to infected rodents, the strain in the current outbreak can be transmitted from person to person. (Loftus, 5/11)
KFF Health News: Journalists Shed Light On Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak And A Crisis In The Nation’s ERs
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak on PBS NewsHour, Fox’s LiveNow From Fox, and CBS News’ CBS Mornings on May 5. She also discussed the hantavirus outbreak on NPR’s Morning Edition on May 6. (5/9)
In separate news about cruise ships —
The New York Times: Norovirus Outbreak Sickens 115 On Cruise Ship
More than 100 people have been sickened in a norovirus outbreak on a cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday. Those sickened, who include 102 passengers and 13 crew members, have been isolated from uninfected travelers, the agency said. The cruise ship, the Caribbean Princess, left Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on April 28 and is expected to arrive in Florida on Monday. (MacDonald, 5/8)
