Passengers on the cruise ship MV Hondius infected with the Andean variant of hantavirus have been evacuated to their homes, including 18 Americans who were taken to a military base in Omaha and then to a U.S. medical center.
The U.S. passengers left the ship, which was anchored near Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, on May 10 and arrived in Nebraska on May 11 on a U.S. government medical repatriation flight.
Sixteen of those passengers were isolated at the University of Nebraska’s National Quarantine Center.
The remaining two people, a couple, were taken to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. One of them had experienced hantavirus symptoms but tested negative for the virus.
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Spanish Health Minister Monica García said in a press conference that 94 passengers from 19 countries were evacuated from the ship on May 10, the first day of the evacuation.
Reuters said the passengers were taken from the ship to shore in small boats and transported by military buses to Tenerife’s airport without contact with the public.
Trump administration health officials said the hantavirus situation is under control.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said at a press conference on May 11: “The country is ready, the CDC is focused on this issue, and CDC is very aware that we have an opportunity to really address this issue, not just prevent it in the future, but treat it when it happens.”
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. added, “We have this under control and we are not worried.”
According to the World Health Organization, as of May 11, a total of nine cases, including three, have been linked to the hantavirus outbreak.
The latest case was reported by France and involved a passenger who disembarked the previous day, said Olivier Le Pollin, head of the WHO’s epidemiology and analysis division.
The MV Hondius set sail for the Netherlands on Monday night after evacuating passengers from nearly 20 countries, authorities reported.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told USA TODAY that new cases could emerge as people prepare to leave for their home countries. But given the way the virus spreads, it’s unlikely to cause a broader outbreak, let alone a pandemic.
Still, public health experts say the current outbreak is a warning sign for the future of zoonotic diseases that jump from animals to humans.
“We must recognize the fact that zoonotic disease outbreaks are increasing in frequency and overall severity,” Hotez said.
“And it won’t be the last time.”
Contributors: Natalie Neysa Alland, Eduardo Cuevas, Melina Khan, Thao Nguyen, Ramon Padilla Daniel de Visse and Sean J. Sullivan.
Source: USA TODAY Network reporting and research. Reuters; World Health Organization Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This is a developing story and may be updated.
