A fourth local resident is being monitored after traveling on a flight with a sick cruise ship passenger, according to Public Health.
SEATTLE — A fourth person in King County is being monitored for symptoms after possible exposure to the deadly virus hantavirus infection on a recent flight, according to the Seattle and King County Public Health Department.
The person was not on the MV Hondius cruise ship, but there was a sick cruise ship passenger on their flight before departure; the sick passenger was taken off the plane before departing from Johannesburg to Amsterdam.
The Washington State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified local health agencies of the surveillance status on Thursday, May 14.
Public Health said the fourth person was considered “low risk” for infection because they were not seated near the sick passenger. The King County resident remains asymptomatic and health officials are monitoring any symptoms that develop.
Three additional King County residents Possible Andes-type hantavirus infection is also being monitored following exposure.
Among those people were two King County residents who sat near a sick cruise ship passenger on the Johannesburg flight before the passenger was removed. Another King County resident aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship is also being monitored at the state quarantine center in Nebraska.
None of the King County residents being monitored are showing any symptoms, and there are no Andes-type infections in the county, according to Public Health.
Unrelated hantavirus cases
A Chelan County resident has tested positive for the Sin Nombre strain of hantavirus, according to the Chelan-Douglas Health District.
However, this case is not related to the cruise ship outbreak or caused by any other cases worldwide.
Officials said the person’s exposure may have occurred in or around the home where they encountered the rats. Hantaviruses originate from contact with wild rodents and can cause severe and sometimes fatal illness.
The Sin Nombre virus, which does not spread from person to person, has been reported in Washington. According to a 2025 state Department of Health report, approximately two cases are reported annually in Washington state, primarily in eastern Washington counties.
three reported cases One man died after multiple fires broke out in King and Skagit counties between November 2016 and June 2017.
