State health officials announced on Monday that four California residents were exposed to hantavirus following an outbreak on a European cruise ship in April.
One of the Californians who was exposed to the virus lives in Santa Clara County. They got off the cruise before the virus was detected.
They are currently being monitored by state health officials, who say the South Bay resident is at home, and isn’t showing any symptoms.
There were about 150 people on the small cruise ship. So far three people have died from the Andes hantavirus strain. Five people are sick.
During a media briefing on Monday, California's public health officer, Dr. Erica Pan, said that all four Californians are currently asymptomatic. Two of them are being evaluated at a medical facility in Nebraska. The fourth is from Sacramento County, and is also being monitored by health officials.
Hantaviruses infect rodents and are occasionally transmitted to humans, health officials said. People usually get infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings, or saliva.
The Andes hantavirus can cause "limited person-to-person transmission only with close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members or intimate partners," health officials said.
More information about hantavirus is available at https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/HantavirusPulmonarySyndrome.aspx
