CDC says there are no U.S. hantavirus cases currently, 41 people being monitored

CDC says there are no U.S. hantavirus cases currently, 41 people being monitored

• There are no U.S. cases of hantavirus currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
• The CDC is monitoring 41 people for the virus, but the risk to the public remains low.
• The World Health Organization has reported 11 cases of hantavirus and three deaths linked to an outbreak on a cruise ship.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are no hantavirus cases in the country as of Thursday, as it monitors 41 people for the virus.

The agency said the risk to the public remains low in the aftermath of an outbreak on a cruise ship.

The World Health Organization has reported 11 total cases of hantavirus linked to the outbreak, eight confirmed by lab testing, including three deaths.

The spread of the virus has sparked concerns about a potential global health crisis only a few years removed from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, public health experts have stressed the risks from the outbreak are limited, and have cautioned that it likely will not cause a widespread health emergency.

The Andes strain of hantavirus associated with the outbreak, unlike other illnesses including Covid, measles and the flu, does not spread easily between people.

Even so, more confirmed cases could emerge in the coming weeks because it has a long incubation period, according to experts.

Some public health experts have said the U.S. response to the spread of hantavirus, slowed by staffing cuts at the CDC and the Trump administration's decision to leave the WHO, has exposed cracks in its readiness to handle another health crisis.

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