Americans To Quarantine in Nebraska Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship

Seventeen American passengers potentially exposed to a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship will soon be escorted on a charter flight to a federally funded quarantine facility in Nebraska, according to health officials.The United States has triggered an emergency response as the MV Hondius sails toward Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where nearly 150 asymptomatic passengers will be evacuated. The ship has been struck by a rare hantavirus outbreak that has already claimed the lives of three people — a Dutch couple and a German woman — and infected at least six others.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dispatching a team of medical professionals and epidemiologists to Spain to meet the Americans. “CDC’s premier infectious disease experts are continuing to work closely with international partners to develop consistent monitoring guidance,” the agency said in a statement.Upon arrival in the United States, the flight will land at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. The passengers will then be transported to the National Quarantine Unit at the Nebraska Medical Center.“We are prepared for situations exactly like this,” Dr. Michael Ash, chief executive officer of Nebraska Medicine, said in a statement released Friday. “Our teams have trained for decades alongside federal and state partners to make sure we can safely provide care while protecting our staff and the broader community.”Dr. Michael Wadman, the medical director for the unit, noted that the facility has 20 available spaces. Each passenger will receive a private room, food deliveries, and daily vital sign monitoring by infectious disease specialists.“Our role is to provide a controlled, safe environment where people can be monitored and, if needed, cared for using the highest safety standards,” said the director of the Global Center for Health Security, John Lowe. “We work closely with national partners to ensure every step, from transport, to monitoring, to potential treatment, is handled with precision and care.”Hantavirus causes fever, fatigue, nausea, and trouble breathing, carrying a fatality rate of up to 50 percent in the Americas. The specific strain on the ship, the Andes strain, is uniquely capable of human-to-human transmission through close contact, though it is primarily carried by the South American pygmy rice rat.Because the virus’s incubation period can last up to six weeks, state and local health departments in Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Virginia, California, and New Jersey are closely monitoring passengers who disembarked earlier in the voyage on April 24.“The passengers from Texas are not sick and did not have documented contact with a sick person on the ship, so there is no restriction on their movement,” Chris Van Deusen, director of media relations for Texas DSHS, said Friday in a statement. “If they develop any symptoms, they will contact public health and isolate. I don’t believe asymptomatic spread in the home is a concern.”Despite a Dutch flight attendant recently being hospitalized after contact with an infected passenger in Johannesburg, global health authorities remain relatively calm. “While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the media. “It’s possible that more cases may be reported.”The Trump administration and the CDC continue to monitor the situation closely, emphasizing that the threat level remains minimal for the general population.“At this time, the risk to the American public is extremely low,” the CDC said. “We urge all Americans aboard the ship to follow the guidance of health officials as we work to bring you home safely.”

Americans To Quarantine in Nebraska Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship

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