A Santa Clara resident is being monitored by local health officials after they returned home after being exposed to Andes hantavirus as a passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Santa Clara’s public health department said on Monday the monitoring is being conducted in coordination with the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There is no known risk to the public at this time,” the statement said. California health officials on Friday had said that one California resident had returned home, but did not say where they were from. CDPH said public health protocols for that person include daily temperature and symptom checks and “direction to modify activities.” State health officials also said last week that another Californian remained aboard the cruise ship. As of last Thursday, there was no information that the California residents has fallen ill or were infected with the disease, which is linked to rodent droppings.The risk to the general public in California is “extremely low,” CDPH said.How many people have been infected?Three people have died so far as part of the outbreak and at least six others with confirmed or suspected hantavirus cases are being quarantined, The Associated Press reported on Monday. The newest cases included a French woman who tested positive and was being treated at a Paris hospital, and an American without symptoms who tested positive and was taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s biocontainment unit. 18 Americans are flown to the U.S. In all, 16 American passengers were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center to be monitored. Two other Americans, a couple, were taken to a medical facility at Emory University in Atlanta. One of them had mild symptoms and would be tested for hantavirus. States that previously said they were monitoring seven passengers who previously disembarked include California, Arizona, Georgia, Texas and Virginia. CDPH said California was assisting with the national response to the cruise ship outbreak by fast-tracking clinical testing capacity for Andes hantavirus samples at its Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory.Past hantavirus cases in California CDPH said there have been 99 California residents who have been diagnosed with hantavirus, from 1980 to 2025. None were from Andes hantavirus, which is found in the southern Andes region of Argentina and Chile. Instead, the California cases were all from Sin Nombre hantavirus, which is not associated with person-to-person contact as Andes hantavirus can be.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google. –The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Santa Clara resident is being monitored by local health officials after they returned home after being exposed to Andes hantavirus as a passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Santa Clara’s public health department said on Monday the monitoring is being conducted in coordination with the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There is no known risk to the public at this time,” the statement said.
California health officials on Friday had said that one California resident had returned home, but did not say where they were from.
CDPH said public health protocols for that person include daily temperature and symptom checks and “direction to modify activities.”
State health officials also said last week that another Californian remained aboard the cruise ship.
As of last Thursday, there was no information that the California residents has fallen ill or were infected with the disease, which is linked to rodent droppings.
The risk to the general public in California is “extremely low,” CDPH said.
How many people have been infected?
Three people have died so far as part of the outbreak and at least six others with confirmed or suspected hantavirus cases are being quarantined, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
The newest cases included a French woman who tested positive and was being treated at a Paris hospital, and an American without symptoms who tested positive and was taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s biocontainment unit.
18 Americans are flown to the U.S.
In all, 16 American passengers were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center to be monitored.
Two other Americans, a couple, were taken to a medical facility at Emory University in Atlanta. One of them had mild symptoms and would be tested for hantavirus.
States that previously said they were monitoring seven passengers who previously disembarked include California, Arizona, Georgia, Texas and Virginia.
CDPH said California was assisting with the national response to the cruise ship outbreak by fast-tracking clinical testing capacity for Andes hantavirus samples at its Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory.
Past hantavirus cases in California
CDPH said there have been 99 California residents who have been diagnosed with hantavirus, from 1980 to 2025. None were from Andes hantavirus, which is found in the southern Andes region of Argentina and Chile.
Instead, the California cases were all from Sin Nombre hantavirus, which is not associated with person-to-person contact as Andes hantavirus can be.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google.
–The Associated Press contributed to this report.