WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Ill. (WTVO) – The Illinois Department of Public Health is investigating a possible case of hantavirus in a Winnebago County resident, though officials say the risk to the public remains very low.
According to IDPH, the potential case is not connected to a recent hantavirus outbreak involving passengers on the MV Hondius cruise ship and does not involve the Andes strain of the virus.
Health officials say the resident has not traveled internationally and has had no contact with anyone connected to the cruise ship outbreak. The individual is believed to have potentially contracted a North American strain of hantavirus while “cleaning a home where rodent droppings were present,” IDPH said…