The five people will complete monitoring at home after they remain asymptomatic and meet the criteria for monitoring outside isolation.
OMAHA, Neb. — Five of 18 U.S. cruise ship passengers have been staying at a state quarantine facility in Nebraska after being quarantined Exposure to hantavirus U.S. health officials said Monday they were returning home.
The five individuals will complete monitoring at home after remaining asymptomatic and meeting criteria for monitoring outside the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s quarantine unit.
About three weeks after they and 13 other Americans arrived in Nebraska, they were leaving Omaha. deadly outbreak Hantavirus infection aboard a cruise ship sailing in the South Atlantic.
Hantaviruses are usually spread when people inhale residue contaminated with rodent feces, but The hantavirus causing the current outbreakThe virus, known as the Andes virus, can in rare cases spread from person to person.
According to the World Health Organization, a total of 13 confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus, including three deaths, have been linked to the ship.
Health officials say there have been no confirmed cases of the Andes virus in the United States and the risk to the public remains low.
A spokesman for Nebraska Medicine said Monday that no U.S. passengers had shown any symptoms.
In previous outbreaks, hantavirus symptoms took up to 42 days to appear, but some medical experts say most people who develop symptoms do so within 21 days.
Omaha doctors monitoring passengers have previously said they will work with each person individually to determine whether they are fit to return home to complete the recommended 42-day quarantine period.
Federal officials coordinated with state and local authorities to arrange travel home for the five. Officials said the trip will not be on commercial flights and that appropriate biocontainment measures are in place. The state health department will continue to conduct daily symptom monitoring, maintain 24/7 surveillance and provide guidance.
New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said two of those who returned home live in suburban New York City.
One of the remaining passengers, Jake Rosmarin, posted on his blog Sunday that he planned to stay at the Omaha quarantine center for the final three weeks of his quarantine because he would have immediate access to care if he got sick and he didn’t want to risk unnecessary exposure to others.
Rosmarin, who updates his experience daily, said he would not judge anyone who decides to return home.
“This experience was very painful for me personally,” Rosmarin said. “I don’t think I’ve fully processed everything and now I don’t want to leave until I know I’m not going to get sick or put my family, friends or the public at risk.”
Not everyone quarantined in Nebraska is happy about it. About a week after the 18 people arrived, U.S. health officials issued a quarantine order, forcing two passengers who wanted to leave to stay there.
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