The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified the hantavirus outbreak as a “level 3” threat and opened its Emergency Operations Center, according to the report.
The risk to the public remains low, but epidemiologists, scientists and doctors may once again be tasked with monitoring and assisting in the disease response, several sources told ABC News on Thursday.
By opening Emergency Operations Centers, it means there is a team ready to support any response that may be required.
Most minor natural disasters in the US often involve Level 3 responses under the CDC’s Emergency Management Program.
President Trump said he had been informed of the hantavirus outbreak on the Dutch flag ship MV Hondius, which is en route to the Canary Islands and is expected to arrive on Saturday.
“It should be good. We hope,” he told reporters when talking about the outbreak of the disease. “It’s largely – we hope – under control.”
He confirmed that a “full report” would be released on Friday – but stopped short of providing specific details of what it might include.
Trump also tried to reassure Americans when asked if they should be worried about the outbreak.
“I hope not, I mean, I hope not,” she said. “We will do our best.”
Federal agencies are monitoring the American passengers who were on the ship and have returned home.
The passengers did not know they had contracted the virus when they left the boat in Saint Helena on April 24.
Texas said the two residents have agreed to monitor their temperatures daily for infection – but are currently showing no signs of infection.
The two Georgia residents are in good health, showing no signs of infection and following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Georgia Department of Public Health said.
The Arizona passenger also had no symptoms, according to the state health department.
The Virginia resident is “currently in good health” and being monitored, the Virginia Department of Health said.
Six Americans were among 30 passengers who disembarked when the ship docked in Saint Helena, the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said Thursday.
Hantavirus arrived in Europe earlier this week, and a man, who had left a boat, turned himself into a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, after showing symptoms.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has also activated its response to the Andes hantavirus outbreak, which has a 40% mortality rate.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the head of the EU Health Task Force had been sent to the ship.
Similar to its American counterparts, the ECDC said the risk to humans is very low.
Three suspected hantavirus patients were removed from the MV Hondius while in West African waters, off the coast of Cape Verde, and treated.
Former British police officer Martin Anstee, who now works as a tour guide on the line, was airlifted to a hospital in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
A 41-year-old Dutch man and a 65-year-old German man were pulled from the ship along with Anstee on Wednesday.
Eight cases of suspected hantavirus have been reported, including three deaths, the World Health Organization has confirmed.
But, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, said, “It is possible that more cases have been reported.”
A British man, 69, was treated in a South African hospital but the UK’s Health Security Agency announced on Friday another suspected case of the virus on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha.
The MV Hondius made a brief stop in the archipelago in mid-April.
By Post cables
