According to what was stated by the news division of the American television and radio network C.B.S.after the confirmation of the three deaths cruise related MV Hondius and the person-to-person transmission of the hantavirusthe United States Government decided to activate surveillance protocols in the nation.
Starting this Friday, May 8, health authorities in the United States began to supervise passengers who they disembarked in the country before the first diagnoses disclosed by the World Health Organization (WHO)the organization specialized in prevention, promotion and international intervention.
So far, the United States Department of Health and Human Services assures that none of the people under observation have symptomsbut five states U.S. authorities remain on alert, and passengers will be monitored daily for 42 daysthe maximum known incubation period for this strain.
This is because the main objective of the US health authorities is to detect any sign of the disease and prevent its possible spread local, since the symptoms of hantavirus and its new Andean strain usually appear between 1 and 5 weeks after exposure and begin like a severe cold or flu.
The 5 US states on alert
The health authorities of Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Arizona and California confirmed that each state supervises two citizens who traveled in the cruise M.V. Hondiusso various officials participate in the surveillance of those who landed before the first ones were known symptoms on board this ship.
Given this situation, the authorities of these five states reported that they maintain daily contact with passengers to provide recommendations and check for possible symptoms, such as feverfatigue, muscle pain – especially in the thighs and back -, headache, dizziness and gastrointestinal problems, such as nausea and vomiting.
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According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCfor its acronym in English), the main federal public health agency in the United States, “the risk to the community is low,” because there is still no certainty that the passengers have been exposed directly to the hantavirus on the ship.
However, passenger monitoring consists of checks on temperaturemonitoring of respiratory symptoms and advice on the need for isolation in case of fever highmuscle pain in the thighs and back or breathing difficulties, so each of the five states activated immediate follow-up protocols.
hantavirus surveillance
According to the EFE news agency, the five states identified by the WHO were identified based on the place of residence of cruise passengers MV Hondius before all the cases were confirmed, so that this surveillance has a preventivebecause hantavirus transmission is very rare.
However, in addition to the United States, other countries, such as CanadaUnited Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland, monitor passengers who shared journeys or flights with confirmed cases. “We hope the situation is under control,” added the American president, donald trumpwho stressed that the risk of a pandemic is low.