One of 17 Americans evacuated from cruise ship Hantavirus The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed late Sunday that one person had tested positive for the virus, while another person was showing “mild symptoms.”
While at least six Americans are currently being monitored for cruise-related illnesses, this marks the first confirmed case Hantavirus These include those evacuated from the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius this weekend.
First confirmed case of hantavirus found among Americans evacuated from MV Hondius
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, all U.S. citizens and one British citizen living in the U.S. will be flown back to the U.S., and the two symptomatic passengers will be moved to the plane’s biocontainment unit.
The second passenger who developed symptoms has not yet been confirmed to have the virus. The plane was scheduled to arrive in Omaha, nebraskaearly Monday.
“One passenger is currently experiencing mild symptoms and another passenger has a mildly positive Andes virus PCR test,” they said.
These Americans will first be taken to the University of Nebraska, which has a federally funded quarantine facility, to evaluate whether they have been in close contact with anyone with symptoms and to determine their level of risk for spreading the virus.
What’s next for the two passengers?
Nebraska Medicine further states that those who test positive will receive another test upon arrival.
Each of the 17 Americans will receive clinical evaluation and care specific to their condition, HHS said.
“One passenger will be sent to the Nebraska Biocontainment Center upon arrival, and the other passengers will go to the State Quarantine Center for evaluation and monitoring,” said Kayla Thomas, spokesperson for the Nebraska Medical Center. “The passenger who went to the biocontainment center tested positive for the virus but was asymptomatic.”
“We are confident in the quality of care these individuals will receive and the protocols in place to ensure the safety of health care workers,” said Omaha Mayor John W. Ewing Jr.
Hantavirus outbreak: here’s what we know
Authorities set up a medical tent to accommodate passengers and health officials donned full-body protective gear. Residents of Tenerife expressed opposition to the ship’s docking and expressed concern that hantavirus could spread beyond the Hondius’ crew and guests. However, these concerns were dismissed by the Spanish national government in Madrid.
In a video posted Monday morning, Hondez captain Jan Dobrogowski expressed his gratitude to passengers and crew while acknowledging the challenging weeks they had endured on board.
Human infections with hantaviruses are uncommon and have never been documented on cruise ships before.
The World Health Organization is currently conducting an investigation to determine the origin of the outbreak, focusing specifically on a bird-watching trip in southern Argentina that the first passenger to die from the disease took before boarding the cruise ship.
Throughout this outbreak, U.S. and international health officials have emphasized that the risk to the public remains low and that transmission is limited to close contact.
Other countries are taking steps to evacuate, monitor and quarantine the Hondius’ former passengers. As of Monday morning, 54 people were still on board, 32 of whom were scheduled to fly to the Netherlands.
