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Nebraska Quarantine Begins
Eighteen Americans evacuated from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius after possible exposure to hantavirus are being closely monitored in the United States, with officials saying the public risk remains "very, very low".
“very, very low”
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen said at a press conference alongside health officials on Monday morning, "No-one who poses a risk to public health is walking out the front door onto the streets of Omaha," as 16 passengers were taken to the nation’s only national quarantine unit in Nebraska.
Health officials said one passenger aboard the MV Hondius has tested positive for the Andes virus, while another is showing mild symptoms, and the passenger who tested positive was placed in a biocontainment facility and was not experiencing any symptoms.
Brendan Jackson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said some passengers were flown to Atlanta to preserve space at the Nebraska facility, including the passenger who displayed mild symptoms, and the two individuals taken to Georgia include one who is symptomatic and that person’s partner.
Admiral Brian Christine of the US Health and Human Services department (HHS) said, "The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged close contact with someone who is already symptomatic," as officials focused on symptom monitoring and case-by-case decisions about whether to complete a full 42-day quarantine period.
PCR Results and Monitoring
At a Monday news conference, Dr. Olivier De Polain of the WHO’s Epidemiology and Analytics Response department said the World Health Organization was reporting nine cases, including seven confirmed for hantavirus and three deaths, as U.S. officials continued monitoring passengers from the MV Hondius outbreak.
Alongside President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kenney Jr. said Monday, "We have this under control, and we’re not worried about it," while the CDC said a team of epidemiologists and medical professionals was sent to Spain to conduct exposure risk assessments for each U.S. passenger.
The CDC said the Americans would be flown to the Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, before being transported to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska, where Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said passengers would be checked for symptoms and given the option to quarantine at home with support and monitoring from local health officials.
In Nebraska, officials said the passengers would undergo further assessment after they had a chance to sleep and rest, and officials clarified that a patient described as "mildly positive" on a PCR test had been tested twice, with one specimen positive and the other negative.
Brendan Jackson said, "With these PCR tests... there's sort of a range in where they can fall," as the CDC cautioned that people could have symptoms without necessarily having the hantavirus.
Global Repatriation and Risk
As repatriation continued after the MV Hondius anchored near Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 18 American passengers returned to the country on Monday, with two in biocontainment units in Omaha, Nebraska, and Atlanta.
“out of an abundance of caution”
The Department of Health and Human Services said those two Americans traveled in the plane’s biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," and officials said most of the Americans were taken to a facility in Nebraska while two were taken to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Dr. Aneesh Mehta of Emory University Hospital said, "We have been preparing for years for viruses such as Andes viruses," as the ship’s departure from Argentina on April 1 was followed by six confirmed cases of hantavirus and two suspected cases, with three people having died.
The NBC News report said the luxury cruise ship arrived early Sunday at the island of Tenerife, where passengers started repatriating to their home countries, and it said passengers received health screenings upon arrival in Spain, the country’s Health Ministry said in a statement.
In a video message shared Monday, the ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, praised passengers and crew, saying, "I've witnessed your caring, your unity and quiet strength amongst everybody on board — guests and crew alike — and I must commend my crew for the courage and the selfless resolve that they showed time and again in the most difficult moments," while officials continued to stress that the risk to the broader public was low.
