Back on US Soil: Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak Passengers Begin Medical Monitoring

Añadido: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]15 of the passengers on the cruise ship that was hit by Hantavirus are here in this building. They are staying at the national quarantine unit here at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and they're going to be assessed to determine if they have any symptoms, if they have maybe been in contact with someone who has tested positive and sort of go through an individualized monitoring for each person to determine their risk and see how they're doing.

[00:00:26]Now, the medical staff here described the unit as uh hotel rooms with negative pressure and an elite ventilation system. With the national quarantine unit and a biocontainment unit, our teams are evaluating these patients in these more specialized hotel room-like areas for the quarantine unit to really make sure that we understand their risk of exposure, how high-risk that might be, and the likelihood that they could potentially develop infection. There is one person who did test positive for Hantavirus, though they are asymptomatic, and that person is staying at the biocontainment unit. Now, that person will continue to be tested and monitored, but again, at this time, they are asymptomatic. Now, there are two passengers who went to Emory University, to the biocontainment unit there in Atlanta. And the reason why is because one of those passengers is showing symptoms. And there was a contingency plan in place because there are only three biocontainment units here at this facility, and they decided the best thing to do was divide and conquer. And just in case, send that person and another passenger to Atlanta so they could have room here in Nebraska in case other passengers tested positive. Now, it is a 42-day monitoring period. The passengers, if they don't show symptoms and don't test positive, could potentially be escorted back home where they would continue checking in daily for monitoring throughout that period or they can stay here where they'll have a full medical team to address their needs.