State health officials identified a fifth California resident exposed to the Andes hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship last month.
The California resident was a passenger on the cruise ship, the California Department of Public Health said Wednesday. They got off the ship before the outbreak was discovered, returned briefly to California, then left the state.
Officials did not say where in California the person visited.
The person remains asymptomatic, officials said. They are currently in the Pitcairn Islands, a remote British territory in the South Pacific, where their health is being monitored by British health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease has an incubation period of 42 days.
Three other Californians have also been confirmed to be aboard the contaminated cruise ship. One also disembarked before the outbreak began and returned to Santa Clara County. The two others were flown to a medical facility in Nebraska along with other American cruise passengers. Health officials said no update was available on when they would return home to California.
Another California resident who may have been exposed was not on the cruise ship, but sat next to a person on a plane in South Africa who was later confirmed to have hantavirus.
The sick person, who had been a passenger on the ship, was removed from the plane before it took off. The Californian returned to Sacramento County, where they have been directed to limit interactions with others while their health is being monitored.
“There are currently no reported cases of Andes hantavirus disease in California or in California residents, nor in United States residents,” health officials said in a statement.
Although Andes hantavirus can be fatal — leading to three deaths in the recent cruise ship outbreak — officials have stressed that the risk to the California public remains low. It is typically transmitted to humans through infected rodent droppings, but can be spread from person to person in rare cases of prolonged contact.