ToplineSeventeen U.S. passengers who were evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship—including one who has tested positive for the virus—landed in Nebraska early on Monday, hours after health officials noted that one of them has tested positive for the virus while another is showing mild symptoms.American citizens arrive onshore after being evacuated from the MV Hondius in the Granadilla Port.Getty ImagesKey FactsThe plane carrying the evacuees landed at Eppley Airfield in Omaha shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time, KETV and CNN reported. The U.S. passengers disembarked from the ship on Sunday in the Spanish Canary Island territory of Tenerife in the North Atlantic and were seen wearing face masks, gowns and other protective gear.All 17 passengers then boarded an evacuation flight arranged by the State Department, and the BBC reported that a British national who is a U.S. resident was also on board.The Department of Health and Human Services said one of the passengers “tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus” while another showed “mild symptoms.”According to the HHS, the two passengers were moved into the plane’s biocontainment units “out of an abundance of caution.”TangentTracking data on Flight Aware showed that the evacuated passengers were flown on board a Boeing 747 jet operated by Kallita Air, an American cargo plane company headquartered in Michigan. The plane landed at Eppley Airfield at 2:29 a.m. CDT after nine and half hours flight. What Happens After The Evacuated Passengers Land In Nebraska?According to the HHS, the passengers will first be taken to its Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The passenger who tested positive will be taken to a separate biocontainment unit at the medical center. At the respective facilities, the evacuees will undergo “clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition.” It is unclear if the other passengers will be tested again after landing in the U.S. On Saturday, CDC officials said the passengers would not be tested because they were not symptomatic, but it's unclear whether the positive test and one symptomatic passenger have changed that.What Do We Know About The University Of Nebraska Medical Center?A spokesperson for the University of Nebraska Medical Center told the Associated Press that the passenger who tested positive will be taken into “the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival,” while other passengers “will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring.” Is a press conference on Friday, the center’s officials said that each individual quarantining at the facility will have their own rooms. “Each of the rooms looks very much like like a hotel room, with the availability of Wi-Fi, exercise equipment. If the quarantine is prolonged, those would be important in terms of making sure they're comfortable.” The National Quarantine Unit, which opened in 2019 is a federally-funded facility that can house 20 patients, each in their individual rooms. The facility is designed with negative air pressure systems that prevents the recirculation of contaminated air and prevent the spread of airborne pathogens. The biocontainment unit is a separate isolated area of the same facility that is designed to provide “medical care for patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases.”Further ReadingAmericans Evacuated From Hantavirus Cruise Land In Nebraska—U.S. And French Passenger Test Positive (Latest Updates) (Forbes)How Big Could The Hantavirus Outbreak Get? (Forbes)
17 U.S. Passengers From Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship Arrive In Nebraska
The evacuees will be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for further assessment, while one passenger who tested positive will be taken to a biocontainment unit.











