American evacuated from cruise ship tests positive for hantavirus, another has symptoms, HHS confirms

One of the 17 American citizens evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship and flown back to the U.S. tested positive for hantavirus without symptoms, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and another person had mild symptoms.

Those two Americans traveled in the plane’s biocontainment united “out of an abundance of caution,” HHS noted in a Sunday night post on X.

A motorcade of emergency vehicles drove the 17 Americans to ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) facilities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha.

“Each individual will undergo clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition,” the post added.

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The flight touched down early Monday morning. Three individuals died since the outbreak started.

“One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring,” a Nebraska Medicine Facebook post issued on Sunday night stated. “The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms. They were managed separately from other passengers during transport using appropriate biocontainment measures. They will be monitored in the Biocontainment Unit out of an abundance of caution and follow-up testing will be performed.”

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A French individual tested positive and her health declined in the hospital overnight, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist French Health Minister noted Monday. The outlet reported that the individual was one of the five French people who had been passengers aboard the vessel who were repatriated Sunday. The woman developed symptoms while flying to Paris, Rist informed public broadcaster France-Inter.

“Andes virus is a type of hantavirus spread by rodents in South America and, less commonly, by other infected people. The rodents that carry Andes virus have not been found in the United States. It can cause a severe respiratory disease in people, called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS),” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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“Andes virus is the only type of hantavirus that is known to spread person-to-person. This spread is usually limited to people who have close contact with a sick person. This includes direct physical contact, prolonged time spent in close or enclosed spaces, and exposure to the sick person’s body fluids,” the CDC explained.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.