GEORGIA — A pair of Georgians who were onboard the cruise ship at the center of hantavirus outbreak have returned home.
State health officials confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that two Georgia residents disembarked the MV Hondius and returned to their home. They did not clarify where in Georgia those people are located.
Officials say both are in good health and show no signs of infection. They are following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Two patients with hantavirus and one suspected of infection were evacuated Wednesday, the U.N. Health Agency said on Wednesday.
The ship then departed Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board — isolated in their cabins — and headed to Spain’s Canary Islands.
Three people have died, and one body remained on the ship, the World Health Organization said. Of eight recorded cases, five were confirmed by laboratory testing.
Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings and can spread person-to-person, though that is rare, according to the WHO, whose top epidemic expert said the risk to the public is low.
“This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,” the WHO’s top epidemic expert, Maria Van Kerkhove, said. “Most people will never be exposed to this.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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