American passengers exposed to hantavirus are flying back to the U.S.

Seventeen American passengers exposed to hantavirus on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean arrived in the U.S. on a government medical flight on Sunday night, landing at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. The passengers will be transported to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine, where they will be monitored around the clock by medical professionals. Two passengers will be housed in specialized biocontainment units: one with mild symptoms and another testing 'mildly PCR positive' for the Andes virus strain, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The remaining passengers will be assessed and monitored in the quarantine unit, which consists of 20 single-occupancy rooms with individual ventilation systems. The Andes virus strain, identified by the World Health Organization, has killed three passengers and sickened five others on the cruise ship. CDC officials conducted exposure risk assessments when the ship docked off the Canary Islands of Spain on Sunday. The quarantine unit was designed to handle severe infectious diseases and has previously managed cases of Ebola and early COVID-19 patients. Physicians at the Omaha center are coordinating with federal, state, and county health departments to determine the quarantine duration. Other U.S. states, including Georgia, California, and Arizona, are monitoring residents who disembarked the cruise ship before the outbreak was detected. The CDC stated that the risk to the American public remains 'extremely low.' The passengers will be isolated in a facility equipped to handle high-risk infectious diseases, ensuring safety for both the individuals and the broader community.