Civil guard officers and local police set up a command post at a port in Tenerife Island as preparations were made for the arrival of a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak. The ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, is currently anchored off the coast of the Canary Islands. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly sending personnel to meet the vessel and accompany American passengers back to the United States on a chartered flight, where they will be placed into quarantine in Nebraska.
CDC Response and Quarantine Plans
According to unnamed sources speaking with CNN, an additional CDC team is already en route to Nebraska. Passengers are expected to undergo quarantine measures there to prevent any possible spread of the virus. Nebraska is home to both the federally supported National Quarantine Unit and the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, which are specially equipped to handle infectious disease cases. Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) have confirmed their readiness to provide care if needed.
Statements from Health Officials
In a statement to CNN, Nebraska Medicine said: "Nebraska Medicine and UNMC remain in close coordination with national partners regarding the evolving situation with the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship. We cannot discuss specific communications at this time, but our specialized teams, including the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit and National Quarantine Unit, are staffed and ready, if needed, to safely provide care while protecting our staff and the community."
A spokesperson for the US State Department confirmed that the agency is organizing the repatriation effort alongside the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Spanish government. The spokesperson stated: "We are in direct communication with Americans on board and are prepared to provide consular assistance as soon as the ship arrives in Tenerife, Spain."
Monitoring of Potential Exposures
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Department of Health announced on Friday that it is monitoring two state residents for potential exposure to hantavirus following an international flight. The CDC alerted state health officials that the two individuals may have had contact with an infected person who recently departed the Hondius. Neither resident has shown any symptoms, but they are being monitored as a precaution. New Jersey health authorities emphasized that the risk to the general public remains very low, and no hantavirus cases have ever been reported in the state.
Outbreak Details
Oceanwide Expeditions estimates that 17 Americans are onboard the vessel. The World Health Organization has been coordinating the international response, but experts note that US leadership has been largely absent since the country withdrew from the organization. There are now three suspected and five confirmed cases of Andes virus, a type of hantavirus typically spread by rodents but can sometimes spread through close intimate contact. Three people have died, and three have been hospitalized, including in intensive care, though those patients are showing signs of improvement.
