By Chris Boyette, CNN
(CNN) — As passengers of the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak disembark in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, Americans who were onboard will be assessed, transferred to an airport and brought back to the United States — with a first stop in Nebraska, home of the highly specialized National Quarantine Unit.
The virus, typically associated with rodents, may have passed from human to human aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, according to the World Health Organization. Since April 11, three people from the ship have died while a handful of others are sick.
This is everything we know about how the American passengers will get back to the United States and what will happen once they’re home.
Assessment in the Canary Islands
The 17 US passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship will be evaluated by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff after disembarking in Tenerife, according to a CDC official. The CDC will conduct a risk assessment on each American passenger.
None of the US passengers is experiencing symptoms so far.
One source familiar with the matter told CNN the Americans will be brought back to the US aboard a charter aircraft with a biocontainment unit, similar to those used during Covid-19 evacuations.
Another stop in Omaha
Once back in the US, the passengers will be brought for further assessment to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
The facility is “the only federally funded quarantine unit in the United States, designed specifically to safely house and monitor people who may have been exposed to high-consequence infectious diseases,” according to Nebraska Medicine.
There are 20 single-person, 300-square-foot rooms fitted with negative air pressure systems to contain any possible viruses. Doctors there describe them like hotel rooms, designed with en-suite bathrooms, exercise equipment, food delivery and Wi-Fi for patients staying for long periods.
But, a CDC official said the agency is not considering this a quarantine for the cruise ship passengers, but a brief visit to monitor their health.
The passengers will not be tested for hantavirus, as testing is not recommended for those without symptoms, according to a CDC official.
If anyone does fall ill, they could be transferred to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, which is a specialized unit on-site that has previously treated patients during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and some of the first Covid-19 patients from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in 2020, according to Nebraska Medicine officials.
The passengers will be given the option to go home after their assessment in Omaha if safety protocols allow, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday.
Bhattacharya, who is also acting director of the CDC, said the agency will interview the passengers to determine their risk. They will be deemed “low risk” if they were not in contact with someone who was symptomatic.
Bhattacharya said the CDC’s advice to the travelers would include “an offer to stay in Nebraska if they’d like, or if they want to go back home and their home situation allows it, to safely drive them home without exposing other people on the way, and then be put in the control … under the auspices of their state and local public health agencies.”
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By Melissa Bell, CNN
Tenerife, Canary Islands (CNN) — Since around 8 a.m. this morning, the little boat ferrying passengers from the MV Hondius to shore has been shuttling back and forth.
The hundred or so journalists parked not far from the Port of Granadilla have watched a steady and carefully coordinated ballet as the boat transports five passengers at a time to the port that has finally agreed to take them in. This followed five weeks at sea and nearly 10 days of uncertainty and fear since the Andes strain of the hantavirus was identified on board the ship.
Spanish health authorities had vowed, in order to reassure locals, that anyone coming off the ship would only encounter the military or health personnel gathered here to take them onwards to their flights home. And, so far, it’s proven to be the case. From where CNN was stationed, the tent where the passengers are ushered in by people wearing full hazmat suits was visible – in scenes reminiscent of Covid time.
In a message to the people of Tenerife on Saturday Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, acknowledged the fear that is natural for all of us, six years on from the start of the pandemic.
But this, he explained, is not that.
Little by little since the start of this outbreak, the organization has been studying how this strain of hantavirus is behaving. One WHO epidemiologist at the port Sunday told CNN it appears to be transmitted only from someone exhibiting symptoms to someone else in very close contact. So far, so very different from Covid.
Still, judging by the size of the press corps gathered at the small port of Granadilla on the very southern tip of Tenerife today, the fear has been real.
Journalists from the American networks were there, but also, judging from the languages spoken, from many European countries as well. There were 23 different nationalities on board the cruise that should have been the journey of a lifetime through the penguin populations of the Antarctic, not to mention the southern Atlantic island of St. Helena where Napoleon died, but that turned into the cruise from hell. The presence of so many journalists is also a measure of how worried people are.
Which is why relief for everyone at the port of Granadilla today has been so real. Authorities are ensuring not only that the process is thorough but also that it is transparent – hence the access for the media in such close proximity to the process.
Given all the attention the Hondius has had, it certainly felt to the journalists here this morning, like a relief. At last, after more than five weeks on board, some passengers are back on dry land. The end of one ordeal is over.
Now, while each country has its own protocols in place, the passengers of the Hondius are all facing the next part: quarantine and then isolation for at least six weeks.
Not quite life as it was, but at least life again on dry land. And hope that it will get back to normal soon.
The-CNN-Wire
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