Officials said the passenger, who currently has no symptoms, will be monitored at the nation’s only federally funded quarantine center.
NEBRASKA, United States — All 17 Americans evacuated from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak will be quarantined and monitored in Nebraska, federal and state officials said.
The Americans were aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, which has been linked to an outbreak of a rare Andean strain of hantavirus. Three people related to the outbreak have died, and several passengers who disembarked tested positive for the virus.
Nebraska Medicine and University of Nebraska Medical Center explain U.S. citizens will be monitored at the National Quarantine Center on the Omaha campus. Officials said the individuals are currently asymptomatic.
The WHO said the overall public health risk remains low, but the Andes strain is noteworthy because it can spread from person to person in rare cases involving close contact.
The cruise ship, carrying more than 140 passengers and crew, is expected to dock in Tenerife, Spain’s Canary Islands.
Why Nebraska?
Nebraska is home to the country’s only federally funded quarantine unit, which is designed to monitor people suffering from severe infectious diseases.
The National Quarantine Center has 20 negative pressure rooms designed to safely isolate patients while preventing contact with the public. Officials said staff at the facility receive regular training for outbreaks and infectious disease emergencies.
Nebraska Medical Center also operates the Nebraska Biocontainment Center, a center dedicated to treating seriously ill patients.
The Omaha-based facility attracted national attention in 2014 after treating Americans infected with Ebola. It was later used to quarantine evacuees from Wuhan, China, and passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“We are prepared for situations like this,” Nebraska Medicine CEO Dr. Michael Ashe said in a statement. “Our team has received decades of training alongside federal and state partners to ensure we can safely provide care while protecting our staff and the broader community. We are proud to support this national effort.”
Officials stressed that the quarantine operation poses no risk to the public.
Hantaviruses are most commonly spread through contact with infected rodent feces. Human-to-human transmission through the Andes variant, while possible, is rare.
“We know situations like this can cause problems,” Dr. Ashe said. “People should be aware that these facilities are specifically designed to prevent public contact. People receiving care in these units do not pose a risk to the community.”
Symptoms may appear one to eight weeks after exposure and may include fever, muscle aches and breathing problems. Severe cases may be life-threatening.
