American passengers evacuated from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak have returned to the United States as health officials continue monitoring for additional infections.
Plane arrives in Nebraska
A plane carrying 17 American passengers landed in Omaha, Nebraska, early Monday after departing from Spain’s Canary Islands, where the MV Hondius had docked during a large international evacuation effort.
Passengers were transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, home to a federally funded quarantine and biocontainment facility used during previous Ebola and COVID-19 responses, according to The Associated Press.
U.S. health officials said one American passenger tested positive for hantavirus but was not showing symptoms. Another traveler began experiencing mild symptoms during the flight to Nebraska.
Officials said the passenger who tested positive would be taken to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, while the remaining passengers would undergo evaluation and monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit.
Video from Omaha showed passengers arriving overnight before boarding buses that transported them from the airport to the medical center.
What happened
The outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship has triggered a worldwide response as countries work to repatriate citizens and isolate potentially exposed passengers. Three people have died since the outbreak began.
Health officials say the Andes strain of hantavirus connected to the outbreak can spread person-to-person in rare circumstances. The virus is more commonly associated with exposure to rodent droppings. Symptoms can include fever, chills and muscle aches and may appear weeks after exposure.
The World Health Organization said the outbreak marks the first known hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship. Officials continue to recommend active health monitoring for passengers after they return home.
WHO leaders and federal officials have emphasized that the outbreak is not considered a major threat to the general public.
“This is not another COVID,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday. “The risk to the public is low.”
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