Two Texas residents were passengers on the\u00a0cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak,\u00a0according to federal health authorities, and both\u00a0left the ship\u00a0and returned to the U.S.\u00a0before the outbreak was\u00a0identified.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0notified Texas\u00a0health authorities about the two residents, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
According to the announcement, public health workers have been in touch with both Texas residents, who\u00a0were\u00a0not\u00a0publicly\u00a0identified.\u00a0The two residents have reported\u00a0they do not have symptoms and did not\u00a0come into contact with\u00a0anyone on the ship who had symptoms.<\/p>\n
The Texas residents, according to the announcement, have agreed to alert health authorities if they develop symptoms.<\/p>\n
Hantavirus typically spreads through contact with rodent droppings. The specific strain of hantavirus found on board the MV\u00a0Hondius \u2014 a Dutch cruise ship that left Argentina in early April \u2014 can pass from human to human, but only in limited and specific circumstances.<\/p>\n
In order to\u00a0spread from one person to another, the state health announcement said, the two people would have to be in \u201cclose, prolonged contact\u201d while one person was \u201cactively sick with the disease.\u201d The virus, even the strain that can pass from person to person, has not been known to spread through casual contact such as hand shaking or briefly being in the same area as a person who is sick, the\u00a0state\u00a0health announcement said.<\/p>\n