Eighteen passengers from the cruise ship linked to the hantavirus outbreak have returned to the United States and are currently being monitored in medical facilities.
Sixteen of these individuals, including one who tested positive for the virus, reside in Nebraska, while two others reside in Atlanta.
All passengers in Nebraska are asymptomatic, while one individual in Atlanta is experiencing symptoms, according to health officials.
The American passengers were among 122 guests and crew members who recently evacuated the MV Hondius cruise ship.
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Many photos have gone viral across social media.
They were repatriated to their home countries as well as to the Netherlands, where several individuals are currently awaiting their return home.
The vessel is now on its way to Rotterdam, Netherlands, with the remaining crew, said the outlet.
According to the World Health Organization, the hantavirus, which is typically associated with rodents, may have been transmitted from person to person aboard the ship.
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Since April 11, three passengers have lost their lives, and a few others have fallen ill.
The World Health Organization has stated that hantavirus poses a low risk to the general public. U.S. health officials have emphasized that there is no need for panic, as the virus does not spread easily.
A British national hospitalized in Johannesburg after contracting hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius is “clinically improving but still ill,” a spokesperson for South African Department of Health told Reuters on Monday.
Meanwhile, a French woman who became ill after being evacuated from the cruise ship near Tenerife remains in intensive care but is in stable condition, according to a post on X by French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
Three people who were aboard the MV Hondius have died. According to the WHO, there have been nine reported hantavirus cases so far, seven of which have been confirmed, CNN noted.
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The risk of contracting hantavirus is “basically zero” for anyone who did not have contact with individuals on the cruise ship where the outbreak occurred. Additionally, there is “no danger” to the general public.
A senior official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated on Monday that the agency is confident in its response to the hantavirus situation related to the MV Hondius cruise ship, asserting that the virus is well understood.
“Hantavirus is a known virus. It is a known pathogen. And that helps us — we know what we’re doing and we know how we’re responding,” said Dr. David Fitter, the director of the Division of Global Migration Health in CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, per Fox News.
The Fitter stated that the agency’s primary goals are to ensure the safe return of passengers and to protect American communities.
Individuals connected to the outbreak are currently being monitored after their arrival in the United States.
He emphasized that effective coordination among federal, state, and local agencies is crucial to the response.
This includes collaboration with the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the World Health Organization.
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“The system worked. We’ve moved quickly,” Fitter said, adding that teams were quickely sent to the Canary Islands to assist passengers and ensure their safe return to the United States.
At least seven states are monitoring residents for possible hantavirus exposure linked to the outbreak as health officials track passengers and potential contacts across the country.
States reporting monitoring efforts include Arizona, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, and New York.
In several instances, the individuals being monitored were not passengers aboard the ship itself but may have been exposed while traveling on flights with infected passengers.
Among those quarantining include 3 residents from New York; 3 residents from Utah and four residents from California, Fox reported.
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