17 American passengers from Andes-virus outbreak cruise offered quarantine at Nebraska's National Quarantine Unit

Seventeen Americans evacuated from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, which experienced an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus, have been offered quarantine and monitoring at Nebraska Medicine's National Quarantine Unit in Omaha. The outbreak has resulted in three deaths and several confirmed cases among passengers who disembarked. The evacuees currently show no symptoms and may choose to quarantine at the facility or return home; no mandatory quarantine is in effect. The Andes strain is notable for its capacity for rare person-to-person transmission via close contact. The National Quarantine Unit, the only federally funded facility of its kind, features 20 negative-pressure isolation rooms designed to safely monitor exposed individuals while preventing public exposure. The WHO has indicated the overall public health risk remains low.