politics
U.S. Sends Repatriation Plane for 17 Americans from Cruise Ship with Hantavirus Cases
The U.S. government is dispatching a medical repatriation flight to bring 17 Americans back from the MV Hondius cruise ship, which has nine confirmed or suspected hantavirus cases including three deaths. The passengers will be taken to a biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
May 8, 8:21 PM·3m read4 sources
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The United States government is sending a repatriation plane to evacuate 17 Americans from the MV Hondius cruise ship, which is dealing with a hantavirus outbreak that has resulted in nine confirmed or suspected cases and three deaths. The Americans will be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which has a special biocontainment unit.
Michael Wadman, medical director of the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said at a news conference on Friday that they are preparing for 17 to 19 Americans to arrive. Each individual will have their own room that includes WiFi and exercise equipment if the quarantine is prolonged.
Wadman said that at this point there is not a defined quarantine period. The MV Hondius is currently traveling from Cape Verde to the Canary Islands and is expected to reach the coast of Tenerife early Sunday local time. The ship will anchor offshore after officials in the Canary Islands refused to allow it to dock in Tenerife.
Sometime between Sunday and Monday the Hondius will undergo a process of slowly removing passengers in groups of five using small boats to avoid spread of the virus. Passengers confirmed to be asymptomatic will then board buses directly to the airport runway where their nation's plane will be ready for takeoff.
All areas they travel through will be isolated with no contact with civilian personnel, Spanish officials said at a press conference Friday. >The CDC said Friday night that it is sending a team of epidemiologists and medical professionals to the Canary Islands to conduct an exposure risk assessment for each American passenger and provide recommendations for the level of monitoring required.
The World Health Organization is working to provide health checks for everyone on board and assess what level of exposure each person may have had to confirmed hantavirus cases. None of the 147 people on board was experiencing any symptoms of the disease on Friday.
