As headlines focus on a Hantavirus cluster linked to a cruise ship, UNC Health is part of the small national network now coordinating the response. In a WRAL interview, Dr. David Wohl with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases recognized that UNC is one of only 13 federally designated Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Centers (RESPTCs) in the country, created to care for patients with high‑consequence infections and to help manage exactly these kinds of emerging threats.
This network is actively managing the aftermath of the cruise ship outbreak, in which exposed American passengers were transported to a specialized quarantine unit in Nebraska. National partners are planning for what happens next: passengers returning to their home states, the possibility of new illnesses, and how to move patients safely into care if they become sick. UNC leaders are on multiple calls each day with federal partners and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, working through detailed logistics — from safe airport‑to‑home transport to how and when UNC’s special pathogens unit would be activated for a North Carolina case.
Find the WRAL story.