CDC Quarantines 18 Cruise Passengers for Monitoring After Limited Hantavirus Cases on MV Hondius

U.S. health officials investigate potential exposure to the Andes hantavirus. Sixteen of the 18 are at the National Quarantine Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Two are at a quarantine facility at Emory University in Atlanta. U.S. passengers from the MV Hondius to the University of Nebraska Medical Center Davis Global Center in Omaha on Monday.

Now that the passengers have had time to rest, officials are interviewing the 18 to assess how close they may have been to infected people and whether they have resources such as separate rooms to quarantine safely at home. "We want to do this in the least restrictive way possible," Dr.

Brendan Jackson, acting director of the high-consequence pathogens and pathology division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a media briefing Monday.

If passengers are allowed to leave the federal quarantine centers and stay home, they would need to be symptom-free and check in with local health officials regularly, Jackson added. Eleven cases of hantavirus have been reported among the nearly 150 passengers on the MV Hondius. Three people have died from the virus associated with the outbreak.

One of the quarantined people in Atlanta has had mild symptoms but tested negative for hantavirus, while none of the other passengers in Omaha or Atlanta have tested positive. At least seven Americans who previously got off the MV Hondius are quarantining at home in multiple states. Health departments are in regular contact with the seven to monitor for symptoms.