A suspected hantavirus case has been reported at a high school in New York as the US monitors dozens of potential cases following an outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
Ontario County Public Health in western New York announced an investigation into the suspected case in the county, but did not reveal details about the patient.
However, the Geneva City School District confirmed to local outlet 13WHAM that the suspected virus case involves a high school student.
In a message to families, the school district said there was no evidence of risk to other students or staff.
‘We understand that hearing about a rare illness naturally raises questions and concerns for families and staff,’ Superintendent Bo Wright said in a statement.
‘We are continuing to work closely with the Ontario County Department of Health and are following their guidance. As shared in our communication to families and staff, health officials have advised there is no evidence of risk to other students or staff related to this situation.’
Kate Ott, Ontario County’s public health director, said the county has only recorded one other suspected case in the last 20 years.
She also told the outlet that the patient will not have to quarantine.
Nebraska Medicine’s Davis Global Center is pictured above, where American passengers from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship are quarantining
The Geneva City School District serves approximately 2,100 students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
No further details have been released about the patient, including how they were potentially exposed, but the county health department said it is a locally acquired case and there is no connection to MV Hondius, the cruise ship where three people died and several others were infected with hantavirus.
The department said: ‘We are investigating a suspected locally acquired hantavirus case. There is NO connection to the cruise ship outbreak, and there is no risk to the general public.’
Additionally, it said, hantavirus strains found in New York are not spread person-to-person like the Andes strain causing the cruise ship outbreak.
Strains found in the US are spread through mouse and rodent droppings, especially when urine, feces, or nesting materials are disturbed and become aerosolized.
Following the MV Hondius outbreak, which is suspected to have sparked after a Dutch couple contracted the virus while bird watching in Argentina, the CDC is currently monitoring 41 Americans across 16 states who had potential hantavirus exposure.
One American, a doctor who was a guest on the cruise ship who began treating ill passengers when the ship’s doctor was sickened, tested positive for the virus but he has since tested negative three times.
There are now 10 hantavirus cases in connection to the cruise ship outbreak, including passengers and people who were exposed off the ship during travel.
About half of the Americans are being monitored by the CDC at quarantine centers in Georgia and Nebraska, while the other half are isolating at home.
