U.S. cruise passengers head to Nebraska for hantavirus monitoring

"For the passengers getting off the ship, I'd say, 'Welcome to Nebraska.' You are coming to the premier facility in the United States, if not the world, to take care of you,"

"The 17 U.S. passengers are among the total of nearly 150 people who were on the ship from 23 different countries. They've endured in the midst of a hantavirus outbreak which has caused at least eight cases, including three deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The returning Americans had been isolating in their cruise cabins. They will now be monitored for several more weeks, U.S. health officials said in a media call on Saturday."

"Unlike COVID, which was a novel pathogenic strain when it emerged, scientists have been studying hantaviruses and specifically the Andes variant which caused this outbreak for decades. "We do know that you can get small clusters of disease, but in 30 years we've never seen any large outbreaks," says Khan, "so this is unlikely to become a pandemic.""

Seventeen U.S. cruise passengers are expected to return to the United States early Monday after weeks aboard the M/V Hondius. They will disembark in the Canary Islands and board a U.S.-arranged medical repatriation flight to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha. After landing, they will go to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for initial evaluation. The passengers are among nearly 150 people from 23 countries who were on the ship during a hantavirus outbreak that has caused at least eight cases and three deaths. The passengers have been isolating in their cabins and will be monitored for several more weeks. Scientists have studied hantaviruses for decades, and large outbreaks have not been observed, making a pandemic unlikely.

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