American Passengers Exposed to Hantavirus Land in U.S.
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- Seventeen American passengers from a cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak returned to the U.S., with one passenger testing positive for the virus, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
- The passengers arrived on a flight from Tenerife, Spain, landing in Omaha, Nebraska, and will be quarantined at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
- The quarantine center is the only federally funded facility of its kind in the U.S., where the passengers will be monitored 24/7 by volunteer doctors and nurses.
- The hantavirus involved is the Andes virus, known to be transmitted between people through close contact; it has caused three deaths and five illnesses among the cruise passengers.
- The World Health Organization identified the virus and continues to monitor the outbreak linked to the Atlantic Ocean cruise.