Al Roker, the well-known meteorologist from the “Today” show, has disclosed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requested he participate in voluntary testing following his return from Europe amid concerns about the hantavirus outbreak.
Roker, 71, had traveled abroad to celebrate his daughter’s wedding over the weekend. Upon his arrival back in the United States, he noticed CDC officials were present at the airport, monitoring travelers coming from overseas.
In a conversation with his co-hosts Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer during Tuesday’s episode of the “Third Hour of Today,” Roker shared, “I was returning from Europe this weekend for my daughter’s wedding, and the CDC was asking people to voluntarily test themselves.”
He added, “They didn’t specify what the testing was for, so I’m curious if it was just a precautionary measure.”
Currently, the rodent-borne hantavirus has tragically claimed the lives of three passengers who were traveling on the MV Hondius cruise ship.
At the time of writing, rodent-borne hantavirus has killed three passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.
World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak.
He did warn however that the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it is ‘possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.’
Today show’s Al Roker revealed the CDC were asking passengers to undergo voluntary testing amid the hantavirus outbreak
The meteorologist had been returning to the US from Europe following his daughter’s wedding
While hantaviruses are usually spread by wild rodents, it is now all but proven that the disease can be passed from person to person via bodily fluids, which can harbor infectious particles.
Symptoms can include shortness of breath, fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
Experts have insisted that there is little risk to the public and that this isn’t another pandemic, because the virus spreads only through close contact, such as kissing or sharing food or drinks.
On Monday, 18 passengers who were on the MV Hondius cruise arrived back in the US.
The CDC said it will be monitoring all passengers for symptoms for at least 42 days.
On Tuesday night, a British tourist who boarded a plane with a woman who later died from hantavirus was detained at an Italian bar and ordered to quarantine in hospital for a month – despite showing no symptoms and testing negative for the disease.
The holiday-maker and his companion – who was not even on the flight in question – were apprehended outside the bar on Tuesday night and taken to Sacco Hospital in Milan by the authorities.
They have both been placed in quarantine until June 6, completing the 42-day isolation period required by the ministry of health.
The cruise ship MV Hondius was affected by a hantavirus outbreak (pictured on May 11)
The British citizen, who is in his 60s, had boarded the same Airlink flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg as MV Hondius passenger Mirjam Schilperoord, 69, who later died, as well as a second person who later tested positive.
Mirjam was the wife of Dutch ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, 70, who is believed to be ‘patient zero.’ The couple became sick after visiting a landfill site in Argentina to watch birds.
The UK government notified Italian authorities about the British tourist, who had visited various countries including Amsterdam before arriving in Milan, where his travel plans came to an abrupt halt.
Because he had no private accommodation and was staying in a B&B, he will have to endure the whole of his quarantine in a single room in the Infectious Diseases ward of the hospital.
Roker’s 27-year-old daughter Leila married her boyfriend Sylvain Gricourt on Mother’s Day weekend.
Roker shares daughter Leila and son Nick with his wife Deborah Roberts, whom he married in 1995.
Roker’s daughter Leila wed her boyfriend Sylvain Gricourt in Europe over the weekend
The Today show co-host shares two children with his wife Deborah as well as a daughter from his previous marriage
He is also a father to daughter Courney, whom he welcomed with his late ex-wife Alice Bell.
Ahead of the ceremony, Roker and Roberts expressed their excitement for Leila’s big day.
‘I’m excited to go dress shopping with her, of course,’ Roberts gushed to People at the NYC Ballet Gala.
She added to the publication that was thrilled to see her daughter ‘so happy’ while Roker agreed with her sentiments.
Leila and Gricourt announced their engagement in March 2025. The couple met seven years prior, a year after she moved to France to study at the American University of Paris.
