U.S. officials monitor cruise passengers after hantavirus outbreak concerns

U.S. officials in at least five states are monitoring symptoms in seven returning cruise passengers as authorities work to limit a hantavirus outbreak and trace contacts.

The states named in the monitoring effort are Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and Virginia.

The row says the passengers have returned and are being watched for symptoms.

The response matters because hantavirus can require rapid public-health follow-up when possible exposures cross state lines.

The current effort also involves tracing contacts beyond the United States.

The incident appears to be linked to a cruise, although the supplied material does not give the ship's name, the route, or where the exposure may have happened.

No illness numbers beyond the seven monitored passengers are confirmed in the row.

The monitoring effort shows coordination across multiple state health systems at the same time as officials try to identify anyone else who may have been exposed.

That makes the case a live contact-tracing operation rather than a single local health alert.

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