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US Evacuates 17 Americans from Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship
(MENAFN) The US government has launched the repatriation of 17 American citizens stranded aboard a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Sunday.
A State Department-chartered aircraft retrieved the passengers from the MV Hondius after the vessel made port Sunday at Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, the agency disclosed via US social media platform X. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) played a central coordinating role in the evacuation.
Among those evacuated, two passengers were transported in the aircraft's biocontainment units — one presenting mild symptoms and another who had returned a positive test for the virus.
The group will be flown initially to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, where the symptomatic passenger will subsequently be transferred to a second facility specializing in infectious disease treatment.
"Upon arrival at each facility, each individual will undergo clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition," the Department of Health and Human Services said.
The CDC has designated the outbreak a Level 3 emergency response — the agency's lowest tier of emergency activation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus, with five verified cases recorded so far, three of which proved fatal. Scientists identified the Andes variant as the culprit — notably the only known strain of hantavirus capable of spreading directly between humans, typically through close personal contact.
The WHO noted that two of the passengers who died had passed through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay prior to boarding the vessel.
CDC officials said all passengers face approximately six weeks of health monitoring in line with the virus's known incubation window. Health authorities across multiple US states are also actively tracking travelers who disembarked before the outbreak was officially declared.
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