Two more former passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship arrived at the National Quarantine Unit (NQU) this afternoon, bringing the total number of individuals undergoing assessment to eighteen. The NQU team, in collaboration with public health partners, continues to monitor and assess those former passengers.

Those two individuals had been at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta since the passengers arrived from the Canary Islands Monday morning. They were medically cleared to transition to the NQU.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine is one of 13 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response National Special Pathogen System.

All 16 passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are now being monitored and assessed in the National Quarantine Unit at Dr. Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center.

One passenger, who arrived from the Canary Islands early Monday morning, was initially admitted to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. He has since been medically cleared to move to the National Quarantine Unit.

Nebraska Medicine's National Quarantine Unit (NQU) team, in collaboration with federal public health partners, is continuing assessments today on passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship. Fifteen passengers are in the NQU and one patient is in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit.

Assessments include regular symptom monitoring and in-depth interviews with each passenger. Federal public health partners are leading the interviews, with support from the NQU team. The goal of the interviews is to understand each passenger's activities aboard the ship, to determine if there was any potential contact with those confirmed to have hantavirus.

Updates will be provided if there are changes in the status of any passengers.

Nebraska Medicine and UNMC, along with federal, state and local partners, held a news conference this morning to provide an update on the repatriation and monitoring of U.S. citizens connected to the hantavirus outbreak. 

Of the 18 passengers who arrived in the U.S., 15 are being monitored in the National Quarantine Unit and one is being cared for in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. Two passengers were transferred to Emory University in Atlanta as part of pre-established contingency planning to ensure appropriate capacity is maintained in the Biocontainment Unit should additional passengers need medical care.

All passengers in Nebraska are asymptomatic. Over the coming days, clinical teams will conduct individual health assessments and work with federal partners to determine next steps for each passenger, including whether they may safely complete their monitoring period at home. 

The risk to the general public remains very low. Nebraska Medicine and UNMC will continue to share updates here as new information becomes available.

The Nebraska Biocontainment Unit has been activated ahead of the arrival of U.S. citizens from the cruise ship associated with a hantavirus outbreak. 

The passengers are expected to land in Omaha early Monday morning. One passenger will be transported to the Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while the other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring. 

The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms. They are being managed separately from other passengers during transport using appropriate biocontainment measures. They will be monitored in the Biocontainment Unit out of an abundance of caution and follow-up testing will be performed.

Nebraska Medicine and UNMC experts will join federal, state and local partners to update the community on Monday, May 11, at 9 a.m. in the Dr. Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center. 

Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center have been asked by federal partners to receive and monitor U.S. citizens from the cruise ship associated with a hantavirus outbreak.

These individuals will be observed in the National Quarantine Unit, located on the campus of Nebraska Medical Center and UNMC. Nebraska Medicine and UNMC are working closely with the Douglas County Health Department, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, and federal health partners to coordinate the effort.  

The National Quarantine Unit is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the United States, designed specifically to safely house and monitor people who may have been exposed to high-consequence infectious diseases. 

At this time, the individuals being monitored are well with no symptoms of illness. The quarantine process allows for careful observation during the incubation period of the virus while eliminating any potential risk of spread.