17 American passengers evacuated from hantavirus-infected cruise ship to Nebraska quarantine facility

The MV Hondius cruise ship, which departed from Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1, 2026, arrived in Tenerife, Canary Islands on May 10 with a hantavirus outbreak affecting passengers. The 17 American passengers stranded aboard will be evacuated to the National Quarantine Unit at Nebraska Medicine and University of Nebraska Medical Center following disembarkation of Spanish nationals. The facility, the only federally-funded quarantine center in the US, features 20 single-occupancy negative-pressure rooms with private bathrooms, exercise equipment, and WiFi. The CDC will deploy a team to Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue to support public health assessment. The WHO has recommended a 42-day isolation period for all vessel passengers.