Health officials are investigating a potential hantavirus case in Illinois that is not linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak, the state announced May 12.
The case is also not the Andes virus strain, which is the rare strain found among cruise ship passengers that is known to be capable of spreading person-to-person, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported.
The resident lives in Winnebago County, in the northern part of the state near the Wisconsin border, and had not traveled internationally. The person is not seriously ill and did not come into contact with anyone associated with the cruise ship outbreak, according to state officials.
“They are suspected to have acquired a North American strain of the virus while cleaning a home where rodent droppings were present,” the IDPH said in a statement.
The North American strain, which is spread by the deer mouse, is not known to spread person-to-person.
The Andes strain is carried by the long-tailed pygmy rice rat, which lives in the forests of Chile and Argentina, according to the health department.
The state has not been notified of any residents connected to the cruise ship outbreak and the community risk remains very low, according to health officials.
The risk of the virus spreading nationally also remains low, according to the U.S. Public Health Service, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Let me be crystal clear: The risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low,” Dr. Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health and head of the U.S. Public health Service said during a press briefing in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 11.
New Mexico also reported one case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Santa Fe County on March 12. The male patient in his 60s was hospitalized and recovered, according to the state health department.
