CDC teams will meet Americans on hantavirus-stricken ship at Nebraska quarantine unit
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dispatching staffers to meet the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship in the Canary Islands, with plans to escort its American passengers back to the U.S. aboard a charter flight, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Another CDC team has been dispatched to meet the passengers in Nebraska, one source said. Passengers are expected to be placed into quarantine there as part of an effort to ensure that the virus does not have a chance to spread, two sources said. Nebraska is home to the National Quarantine Unit, a federally funded quarantine facility, as well as the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit.
“Nebraska Medicine and UNMC remain in close coordination with national partners regarding the evolving situation with the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship,” Nebraska Medicine said in a statement. “We cannot discuss specific communications at this time, but, our specialized teams, including the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit and National Quarantine Unit, are staffed and ready, if needed, to safely provide care while protecting our staff and the community.”
The U.S. State Department is arranging the repatriation flight in coordination with the CDC, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and government of Spain, a State Department spokesperson confirmed.
The department is “in direct communication with Americans on board and are prepared to provide consular assistance as soon as the ship arrives in Tenerife, Spain,” the State Department spokesperson said.
One source said the charter is a specialized aircraft with a biocontainment unit, similar to those used during COVID-19 evacuations.
The Trump administration was expected to publicly detail its plan as early as Friday, one of the people familiar with the matter said, though they cautioned the timing remained fluid.
There are an estimated 17 Americans on board the cruise ship, according to its operator, Oceanwide Expeditions.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
President Donald Trump on Thursday indicated that the administration would soon release more information on its work to contain the disease, telling reporters that it is “very much, we hope, under control.”
“It was the ship, and I think we’re going to make a full report about it tomorrow,” he said.
Five states — Arizona, California Georgia, Texas and Virginia — are already monitoring seven passengers who previously disembarked from the ship. Health officials told CNN that none are experiencing symptoms. New Jersey also said it is monitoring two people who were potentially exposed to a person infected with hantavirus after departing MV Hondius. They are not experiencing hantavirus symptoms.
Eight hantavirus cases — all among passengers on the MV Hondius — have already been identified. Among them, three people have died.
