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CDC says 41 people are being monitored for hantavirus, but no cases in the US
PURPOSE AND SHARED VALUES, ENCOURAGING HEALTHIER CHOICES. AND ALSO TONIGHT, NEW CASES OF HANTAVIRUS LINKED TO THE DEADLY OUTBREAK ON BOARD THAT CRUISE SHIP, THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, NOW PUTS THE TOTAL AT 11, AND IT INCLUDES THREE PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIED. AND A FRENCH WOMAN CURRENTLY IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION. SHE’S IN A HOSPITAL IN PARIS. HER DOCTORS SAY SHE IS IN, QUOTE, THE FINAL STAGE OF SUPPORTIVE CARE. AS YOU CAN SEE. DOCTOR TODD ELLEN JOINS US NOW FROM FROM SOUTH SHORE HEALTH. SO LET’S CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE THE INFECTIONS ARE SCARY. THE NUMBERS ARE GROWING BOTH THE PATIENT AND THE DOCTOR. I WOULD IMAGINE. SO WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW THAT YOU SEE NORMALLY I WOULD SEPARATE THIS BETWEEN WHAT’S SCARY FOR PATIENTS AND WHAT’S CONCERNING FOR PROVIDERS. BUT IN THIS CASE I THINK THEY’RE VERY SIMILAR. ONE, THERE’S NO CURE FOR THIS. THERE’S NO VACCINE. RIGHT. TWO THE RAPID, UNPREDICTABLE DETERIORATION. IT CAN START OFF LIKE THE FLU. VERY COMMON RIGHT. BUT THEN IT CAN DETERIORATE VERY RAPIDLY. THERE’S A LONG INCUBATION PERIOD. SO THAT’S AN ISSUE. YOU COULD HAVE IT. IT’S POSSIBLE TO GO FOR WEEKS WITH NO SYMPTOMS AND THEN SUDDENLY GET IT. SO I THINK ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE VERY SCARY. LET’S FACE IT. IT’S A HIGH MORTALITY RATE, ONE THIRD, WHICH IS RIDICULOUS. IT’S OFF THE CHARTS HIGH. WE HEARD OF. WE HEARD OF ONE, A BOSTONIAN, LOCAL FELLOW WHO WAS ACTUALLY IN QUARANTINE. HE SAID FOR OVER 40 DAYS, THAT SEEMS LIKE A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, RIGHT? CURRENTLY, CDC IS SAYING THAT YOU HAVE TO QUARANTINE FOR UP TO 42 DAYS. WHY IS THAT? IF YOU LOOK AT THE OUTBREAK FROM ARGENTINA THAT WAS PUBLISHED IN THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE IN 2020, BASICALLY, THE AVERAGE INCUBATION PERIOD WAS ABOUT 18 DAYS AVERAGE BETWEEN TWO AND A HALF WEEKS AND THREE AND A HALF WEEKS. BUT 18% OF PATIENTS HAD AN INCUBATION PERIOD OF OVER ONE MONTH. THAT MEANS NO SYMPTOMS. YOU’RE EXPOSED, NO SYMPTOMS FOR A MONTH, AND THEN SYMPTOMS OCCUR. AND THAT’S WHY YOU NEED THAT LONG QUARANTINE PERIOD. SO EVEN HIM RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS JUST WHAT, A WEEK OR TWO OUT, HE’S STILL NOT IN THE CLEAR. YES. IT’S ONLY A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. IT’S SIX WEEKS AFTER AFTER DISEMBARKING. SO IF FEDERAL HEALTH OFFICIALS NOW SAY THAT THAT THE RISK TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS VERY LOW, WE HEARD AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS, YOU CAN’T PEOPLE TO PEOPLE DOESN’T EXIST. IT COMES FROM IT COMES FROM RAT FECES, RAT EXCREMENT. WHAT IS IT? WHAT’S THE STORY WITH IT? IT APPEARS THAT IT’S MOVING FROM PEOPLE TO PEOPLE. LOOK, I THINK WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW IS THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF OUTBREAKS DO NOT HAVE PANDEMIC POTENTIAL. AND THIS IS NO EXCEPTION. THIS VIRUS, THIS ANDY STRAIN OF THE HANTAVIRUS DOES NOT EFFICIENTLY TRANSMIT FROM PERSON TO PERSON. LOOK, IT’S ALREADY BEEN OVER FIVE WEEKS AND THERE’S 11 CASES. THOSE 11 CASES, IT’S HORRIBLE. THE CLOSE CONTACT. IT’S SCARY. BUT YOU HAVE ALMOST TWO INCUBATION PERIODS ON AVERAGE, RIGHT? AVERAGE 18, 18 DAYS. SO YOU KNOW, IT’S BEEN AT LEAST 36 DAYS SINCE THE FIRST ONSET OF SYMPTOMS. AND THERE’S 11 CASES.
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CDC says 41 people are being monitored for hantavirus, but no cases in the US
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday it is monitoring 41 people in multiple states for the hantavirus, but added there are no hantavirus cases currently in the U.S.Dr. David Fitter, the CDC official leading the agency’s hantavirus response, told reporters at a briefing that if anyone develops symptoms, the agency has local health departments ready to provide testing and care.The 41 people being monitored are in Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington state.The people being monitored are being encouraged to stay at home and avoid being around others for 42 days.Last month and early this month, three people died from an outbreak of the hantavirus on a cruise ship.A doctor who had been on the cruise ship is no longer in a Biocontainment unit in Nebraska after testing negative for the virus. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld had helped take care of sick passengers aboard the MV Hondius when he started feeling sick. He ended up in the biocontainment unit at the university of Nebraska medical center after his initial test results came back “faintly positive.”Kornfeld told CNN confirmatory PCR testing came back negative and he is now in a quarantine unit. The results of his blood tests are still pending.None of the 16 passengers in the Nebraska quarantine unit are symptomatic.The agency says the risk to the public remains low.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday it is monitoring 41 people in multiple states for the hantavirus, but added there are no hantavirus cases currently in the U.S.
Dr. David Fitter, the CDC official leading the agency’s hantavirus response, told reporters at a briefing that if anyone develops symptoms, the agency has local health departments ready to provide testing and care.
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The 41 people being monitored are in Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington state.
The people being monitored are being encouraged to stay at home and avoid being around others for 42 days.
Last month and early this month, three people died from an outbreak of the hantavirus on a cruise ship.
A doctor who had been on the cruise ship is no longer in a Biocontainment unit in Nebraska after testing negative for the virus.
Dr. Stephen Kornfeld had helped take care of sick passengers aboard the MV Hondius when he started feeling sick. He ended up in the biocontainment unit at the university of Nebraska medical center after his initial test results came back “faintly positive.”
Kornfeld told CNN confirmatory PCR testing came back negative and he is now in a quarantine unit. The results of his blood tests are still pending.
None of the 16 passengers in the Nebraska quarantine unit are symptomatic.
The agency says the risk to the public remains low.
