MedPage Today Some people who may have been exposed to a hantavirus that can transmit from human to human returned to the U.S. before the outbreak aboard a cruise ship was known.
This includes seven Americans who disembarked the ship on the remote island of St. Helena on April 24. MedPage Today broke that story last week.
It also includes at least nine Americans who were on the same plane from St. Helena to Johannesburg as the widow of the first cruise ship passenger who died. That woman was symptomatic during the flight, and died not long after landing in South Africa. State health officials have contacted these people and have advised them to quarantine as best they can, with home monitoring and daily symptom and fever checks. According to CDC’s interim guidance, they are all high risk, as they were either on the ship as of April 6, when the first patient died, or were seated close to the symptomatic passenger on the plane.
They’ve been asked to delay nonessential medical care, skip travel plans, and work from home.