A suspected hantavirus case is under investigation after an upstate New York school district announced a high school student may have contracted the rodent-borne disease.
The sickened Ontario County teen’s case is not tied to the deadly outbreak that killed three passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship – and was likely contracted locally, with health officials calling the timing “horrible,” according to Geneva City Schools and a local report.
Officials stressed they are not dealing with a possible Andes strain, which spread on the now-evacuated vessel and carries a 40% mortality rate.
No other students or staff at Geneva High School are sick.
“The Ontario County Department of Health is investigating a suspected case of locally acquired hantavirus involving a Geneva High School student,” the district told parents in a letter Friday afternoon.
“The Department of Health has advised that there is no evidence of risk to other students or staff related to this situation. Health officials have also emphasized that this situation is not tied to the hantavirus strain currently receiving national media attention.”
Ontario County Public Health Director Kate Ott told WHAM her office got the alert Thursday morning about the possible hantavirus case – marking just the second suspected case in the area in two decades.
Ott said the student has had mild symptoms for several weeks, including fatigue, aches, and lethargy.
“This case is mild, and hantavirus is not always mild,” she said, pointing to the case’s “horrible timing.”
“It can be really severe, so we’re really grateful for that. The hantavirus that occurs in the U.S. is not spread person to person. It is spread between mice and humans. If I have it and I sneeze on you, you’re not going to get it.”
Ott told the outlet the student won’t need to quarantine, while urging residents to wear masks and gloves and take proper precautions when cleaning attics, cabins, sheds and garages.
The latest hantavirus scare comes as health officials around the world continue to track its spread after the rare Andes strain – capable of human-to-human transmission – ran rampant on the Dutch cruise ship, killing three passengers and putting dozens more at risk.
Eighteen Americans – including three New Yorkers – on the ill-fated vessel were flown back to the US and quarantined on Monday, with the one passenger who tested weakly positive now in a Nebraska biocontainment unit.
The identities of the New York residents were not released, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said this week they live in New York City, Westchester County, and Orange County.
