ATLANTA — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he is “not worried about” a possible spread of hantavirus as two people exposed to the virus on a cruise ship arrived in Atlanta.
Nebraska health officials held a news conference on Monday, saying that 15 Americans were brought there, where they will be monitored while in quarantine, and that a couple were flown to Atlanta, with one of them showing symptoms of the virus.
During a press gaggle on Monday, Kennedy said there is no need to worry.
“We’ve had CDC teams on it from Day One. I was speaking with the University of Nebraska since the second day of the outbreak. I was speaking with Governor Pillen of Nebraska. We had a CDC team at Tenerife. We had airplanes ready to take the patients, the 17 patients off the vessel and transport two of them went to Atlanta. One of those was symptomatic. They’re in a biocontainment lab in Atlanta,” Kennedy said. “The other 16 are now in Nebraska. One of them is symptomatic. He is in the biocontainment lab. The other ones are being tested and supervised and given plans for going home. We have this under control and we’re not worried about it.”
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The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed that the patients flown to Atlanta were being treated at Emory University Hospital.
During a bill signing on Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp briefly addressed the situation, saying Georgia is as equipped as any state to deal with these type of patients.
“We’re going to do the right thing. We’re going to help get these people back, get them in the right environment that doesn’t put our fellow Georgians in jeopardy,” Kemp said. “We’ll be glad to have them, very proud of our team that’s doing that. I know it’s something the White House and Trump administration has also asked that these individuals come to Atlanta because they have that much confidence in us.”
The hantavirus outbreak started aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. Three people who were onboard have died from the virus.
Hantaviruses have been around for centuries and are thought to exist around the world. The disease gained renewed attention last year after the late actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from a hantavirus infection in New Mexico.
The virus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings. But the hantavirus that has caused the current outbreak, called the Andes virus, may be able to spread between people in rare cases.
DPH previously confirmed that two Georgians were on the cruise ship and returned home last week. Neither of those passengers were showing symptoms but are being monitored.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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