2 Marylanders monitored after briefly sharing plane with hantavirus-infected passenger

Maryland health officials are monitoring two Maryland residents who briefly shared a plane with a cruise ship passenger infected with hantavirus, a potentially dangerous virus linked to three deaths.

Officials from the Maryland Department of Health say the residents were not on the cruise ship, MV Hondius, which docked in Spain’s Canary Islands Sunday.

They did not release any further information about the residents, including their current whereabouts, but said the risk to the general population remained low.

About 150 passengers who disembarked from the Dutch-flagged ship were flown to their home countries and quarantined, including 16 asymptomatic Americans who were taken to a facility in Omaha, Nebraska, and two with symptoms taken to a special hospital unit in Atlanta.

Others who left the ship early returned to several states, including Virginia, and are also being monitored.

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses carried by rodent waste. There have only been three cases in Maryland since 2015, state data shows. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 890 cases since 1993 across the country.

The most common strain in the Americas is called Andes, and it was the type linked to the cruise ship. Officials have said a married couple likely were infected in South America before they got aboard the cruise ship last month.

The strain causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can lead the lungs to fill with fluid and makes breathing difficult. It also has an especially high mortality rate, up to 50%.

There is no specific treatment, but supportive care can be given with early diagnosis, usually by a blood test in a lab.

Public health officials have repeatedly said they don’t foresee widespread infections because transmission between people typically requires close and prolonged exposure.

The incubation period ranges from four to 42 days, and asymptomatic persons are not considered infectious, health officials said. Symptoms usually appear flu-like, with fevers and aches, and can rapidly progress to respiratory distress.

Maryland health officials say they are coordinating with all levels of government, as well as with experts and medical facilities that have special treatment centers able to contain pathogens. Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital has such a biocontainment unit.

Health officials stressed that this is an evolving public health situation and pointed to the CDC for those who want more information.