Hantavirus Outbreak Triggers US Quarantine Response

Three people are dead and more than 100 passengers remain aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship amid the growing hantavirus outbreak. Global health authorities have been mobilising to contain the spread since the first case was confirmed.

American travellers are now set to be transferred to a specialist quarantine unit in Nebraska. The ship is scheduled to arrive in the Canary Islands on Sunday. The CDC has confirmed it is dispatching personnel to meet the vessel on arrival.

American passengers are expected to be transferred to the United States’ only federally funded quarantine facility, the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska, managed by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The facility operates 20 single-occupancy rooms fitted with individual negative air pressure systems designed to safely isolate patients exposed to highly hazardous communicable diseases.

The University of Nebraska said its teams are “staffed and ready, if needed, to safely provide care while protecting our staff and the community”.

Health officials across multiple US states say they are also monitoring passengers who have already returned home for potential infection.

The Nebraska facility previously handled patients during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and received evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Belize’s Ministry of Health and Wellness has confirmed it is monitoring the outbreak and “is in communication with CARPHA and all other regional and international partners.” It added that for the time being, the risk is low in the Caribbean region.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) said in a Wednesday statement it will “will continue to support safer tourism across the Region through enhanced surveillance mechanisms.”