Texas monitors 2 residents after possible hantavirus cruise exposure

Two Texas residents who were potentially exposed to hantavirus on a cruise ship returned to the state before the outbreak was identified, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified the state agency that the cruise passengers were back in Texas, DSHS said. Public health workers in Texas have contacted the individuals, who have agreed to monitor themselves for symptoms. The passengers are not experiencing any symptoms and have had no contact with a sick person on the ship.

The two said they will do daily temperature checks and contact health officials if they see any signs of the virus.

The possible exposure is tied to the MV Hondius, a small expedition cruise ship that had been traveling near the South Atlantic before passengers disembarked April 24 on St. Helena. U.S. health officials have since worked with states to track American passengers who returned home after the trip.

What is hantavirus?

Hantavirus is a category of viruses that are spread by infected mice or other rodents.

In the U.S., the virus is often spread by deer mice and typically is found in the Western United States, especially around desert areas. New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Washington and California have all had more than 50 cases in the past 30 years.

It takes one to eight weeks from contact with the virus to illness.

Hantavirus binds to the cells lining vessels and causes those vessels to become leaky. That causes fluid around the lungs and multi-organ failure.

What are hantavirus symptoms?

The initial symptoms are similar to the flu. People will come to the emergency room with fever, chills and body aches, Metzger said. At that stage, it would be difficult for a doctor to consider hantavirus unless a person mentioned that within the past eight weeks they had come in contact with rodents or rodent droppings or urine.

After a few days of symptoms not getting better, a person's platelet count will drop dramatically, causing dangerous syndromes.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome makes it difficult to breathe, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome affects the kidneys. Both of those syndromes are deadly unless the intensive care unit can manage their symptoms and keep them alive with ventilators or a heart-lung machine called ECMO until they clear the virus.

How does the hantavirus spread from person to person?

"Hantaviruses are usually spread through contact with wild rodent droppings or urine," DSHS said in a statement. "The strain in the Hondius outbreak, Andes virus, can spread from person to person in limited circumstances. It typically requires close, prolonged contact with a person who is actively sick with the disease."

The agency emphasized that the disease is not known to spread through casual contact, like shaking hands or sharing a room with someone for a short time.

DSHS said it will not release the identities or any personal details of the exposed individuals.