Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius is anchored off the coast of the city of Praia on the island of Santiago, Cape Verde, on May 4 after three people died onboard from an acute respiratory syndrome, possibly hantavirus. File Photo by Elton Monteiro/EPA
June 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday it has officially wound down its response to a hantavirus outbreak associated with a cruise ship.
CDC officials told reporters that all Americans exposed to the virus on board the MV Hondius have completed a 42-day quarantine and have returned home. None of those being monitored tested positive for the virus.
Eighteen U.S. citizens were quarantined at the Nebraska Medicine Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center at the University of Nebraska in Omaha after being evacuated from the ship where it was docked in Spain's Canary Islands in early May. Nineteen other Americans had disembarked from the ship before the hantavirus outbreak became apparent. Those individuals were monitored in their homes, The Hill reported.
"These passengers were navigating uncertainty, disruption to their daily lives, and concerns for themselves and their families," said Brendan Jackson, acting director of the CDC's Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.
