Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE) announced on Tuesday that five U.S. citizens quarantined in Nebraska after being exposed to hantavirus on a cruise ship are heading back home.
Eighteen people aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship were taken to the United States in May for monitoring after a hantavirus outbreak was linked to the vessel. Sixteen were taken to the prestigious University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit, while two others were sent to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Five individuals quartered in Nebraska have now been authorized to complete their 42-day quarantine period at their homes, roughly three weeks after first arriving in Omaha following a deadly outbreak of hantavirus on the ship traveling in the South Atlantic Ocean.
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“This is a positive development and the product of the ongoing partnership between the state of Nebraska, UNMC, and our federal health partners,” Pillen said in a statement. “While it is encouraging that many of our guests are remaining at the NQU for the last few weeks of their hantavirus quarantine, those who have elected to go home are doing so with a lower risk profile and in close coordination with health authorities in their destination states.
“As I have made clear from the beginning of this event, no guest who poses a public health risk will leave the NQU onto the streets of Omaha in an unsecured way or at an inappropriate time,” he wrote. “These thoughtful and well-coordinated departures meet that standard.”
Hantavirus is based in South America and linked to rodents. Though it often has a high fatality rate, public health officials have emphasized that the risk to the U.S. is low.
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The May outbreak triggered 13 confirmed or probable cases worldwide, along with three deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Arizona officials said on Monday that a resident died from a type of hantavirus, though it was not linked to the Andes hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship.
One American on the ship, Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, initially tested positive for the virus and was sent to UNMC’s special biocontainment unit. However, he later tested negative and said there was “no evidence” he ever had the virus, indicating the initial results were a false positive.
