FIVE Americans from Hantavirus-inflicted cruise ships being monitored for virus in THREE US states

At least five Americans who returned home from a hantavirus-infected cruise ship are being monitored for the potentially deadly disease.

The tourists from three different US states were aboard the MV Hondius when the sickness broke out last month.

Three passengers onboard the ship have since died, while five others were sickened after showing signs of hantavirus, a family of rare viruses spread by rodents.

But none of those being monitored in the United States have shown any symptoms of the illness, according to The New York Times. 

The Georgia Department of Public Health said it is monitoring two residents who ‘are currently in good health and show no signs of infection.’ 

It added that it is following the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The California Department of Public Health also said it was notified that residents had been onboard the ship, but officials would not specify how many residents it was monitoring.

‘There is no information that the California residents are ill or infected,’ Robert Barsanti, a spokesman for the department told the Times. ‘At this time, the risk to public health in California is low.’

Additionally, the Arizona Department of Health Services said it received notification that a resident was a passenger on the cruise, though a spokeswoman said the ‘individual is not symptomatic, and is being monitored.’ 

Two Texans and one Virginian are also being monitored for the deadly virus after they were identified as passengers aboard the MV Hondius when the outbreak started last month, but returned to the US before it was identified. 

Both passengers from the Lone Star State have no symptoms and did not have contact with anyone unwell, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Thursday.

They have ‘agreed to monitor themselves for symptoms with daily temperature checks,’ according to a release.

The passengers will contact public health officials ‘at any sign of a possible illness,’ authorities added.

The Virginian passenger is also in good health with no sign of infection, according to local health officials. 

Hantavirus symptoms typically show between one and eight weeks after exposure. 

Texas authorities said contracting the hantavirus typically required ‘close, prolonged contact with a person who is actively sick with the disease.’

‘It is not known to spread through casual contact such as shaking hands or being in the same room for a few minutes,’ the release added. 

‘There have been no documented cases where someone without symptoms spread it to someone else.’ 

But as more and more Americans are being identified as passengers aboard the ill-fated ship, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was monitoring the situation.

‘Our top priority remains the health and safety of all US passengers,’ the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. 

‘The Department of State is leading a coordinated, whole-of-government response, including direct contact with passengers, diplomatic coordination and engagement with domestic international health authorities,’ the CDC continued. 

‘As the world’s leader in global health security, the US government is using our premier health experts to guide our response to this evolving situation. We are working closely with our international partners to provide technical assistance and guidance to mitigate risks.

‘At this time, the risk to the American public is extremely low,’ the agency stressed. 

‘We urge all Americans aboard the ship to follow the guidance of health officials as we work to bring you home safely.’

Elsewhere in North America, Canadian authorities confirmed that three individuals were being monitored. 

Two passengers returned home from the vessel before the outbreak was identified, while the third was ‘on the same flight and may have come into contact with a symptomatic individual.’ 

However, said individual was ‘not considered a high-risk close contact’ by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

All three Canadians – two in Ontario and one in Quebec – were asymptomatic and had ‘received guidance to self-isolate.’ 

The MV Hondius, a Dutch ship on a weekslong polar cruise, departed April 1 from Argentina for Antarctica and several isolated islands in the South Atlantic.

The Argentine government’s leading hypothesis is that the Dutch couple had contracted hantavirus during a bird-watching outing at a garbage dump in Ushuaia, Argentina – where the MV Hondius departed from on April 1.

A 70-year-old Dutch man was the first person to die on April 11 after experiencing days of severe illness, followed by his wife two days later.

Six Americans then disembarked MV Hondius on April 24 on the island of St Helena, 13 days following the first death on board, operator Oceanwide Expeditions revealed on Thursday.

But the first hantavirus case on board the vessel was not confirmed by authorities until May 2. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.