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More cruise passengers test positive for hantavirus
A French woman and an American tested positive for the hantavirus, as nations around the world scrambled Monday to repatriate passengers from a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak and quarantine or isolate them.
One American has tested positive for hantavirus and another is showing mild symptoms as the group of 18 passengers from the outbreak-stricken ship arrived back in the United States.
What they're saying:
The Department of Health and Human Services posted the update on social media, saying the two passengers traveled home in the plane’s biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution.
What's next:
Nebraska health and CDC officials said in a press conference Monday morning that plans were in place to care for the 18 people that just returned and for the other Americans aboard the cruise ship who disembarked and returned previously.
RELATED: Hantavirus latest: What’s next for cruise, passengers heading home
By the numbers:
Officials detailed the following passengers:
- 18 Americans evacuated over the weekend
- 16 are at the University of Nebraska Medical Center
- 2 were relocated to Emory University in Atlanta
Earlier counts reported 17 Americans were being flown home; the 18th person is a British-U.S. dual citizen who decided to return to the U.S., an official confirmed Monday.
In Nebraska:
- 15 are in a quarantine unit, which is set up like a hotel for people who are well. They can stay for the 42-day incubation period, but individual decisions will be made with health officials in the coming days if each person can return home in coordination with their state health departments.
- 1 is in their biocontainment unit
Dr. Michael Wadman, the Medical Director of the National Quarantine Unit, said the ages of those in quarantine ranged from late 20s to early 80s.
What they're saying:
"The University of Nebraska Medical Center was selected as the U.S. entry point due to its extensive expertise in handling special pathogens, and it's the only national quarantine unit in the country," said John Knox, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official.
The two people that were relocated to Atlanta were done so to keep contingent space available in Nebraska’s biocontainment unit, in case positive cases develop.
The passenger that tested positive for the hantavirus is asymptomatic and received a positive PCR test overseas, and will be tested again here in the U.S., said Dr. Brendan Jackson with the CDC.
RELATED: Hantavirus latest: What’s next for cruise, passengers heading home
Hantavirus cruise outbreak
The cruise ship MV Hondius anchors in the port of Granadilla waiting to refuel and receive the necessary supplies to travel to the Netherlands, on 11 May, 2026, in Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The operation to evacuate the pa …
The backstory:
The group of 18 Americans flew in on a State Department plane from the Canary Islands in Spain, where the cruise ship the MV Hondius anchored over the weekend for evacuation.
Passengers from more than a dozen other countries were also evacuated and flown home together. A French woman also tested positive after the weekend evacuation.
Three people have died.
RELATED: Hantavirus is 'not the next COVID,' experts say: What to know
Hantavirus symptoms
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Hantavirus explained
Three patients with suspected hantavirus infections were evacuated from a cruise ship and being flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said, as the vessel at the center of a deadly outbreak remained off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands. Board certified physician Dr. Leigh Vinocur joined LiveNOW from FOX's Christy Matino to explain what the virus is and how it spreads.
Dig deeper:
Hantavirus symptoms can feel a lot like the flu. Fever, chills, muscle aches and maybe a headache are common.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can cause the lungs to fill with fluid, usually presents between one and eight weeks after exposure to an infected rodent. The Andes strain, which is confirmed in this outbreak, shows symptoms within six weeks, WHO officials said.
The other syndrome caused by hantavirus — known as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which can cause bleeding, high fever, and kidney failure — usually develops within a week or two after exposure.
There is no treatment or cure for hantavirus, but medical experts say early diagnosis can increase the chance of survival.
What they're saying:
WHO officials continue to assert the risk to the general public is low.
"The data that we have now all suggest that transmission, that spread, between people happens when people are symptomatic," said Jackson. "And so that gives us one layer of added protection to know when the risk is going to be greatest and how we can best protect the health and safety of the passenger and the American public."
The Source: Information in this article was taken from the Department of Health and Human Services, and remarks from Nebraska health and CDC officials in a Monday press conference. Background information was taken from previous FOX Television Station reporting. This story was reported from Detroit.