Passengers from virus-stricken cruise ship fly to home countries for monitoring

OMAHA, Neb, May 12, (AP): The last remaining passengers on a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak disembarked Monday and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine. A French woman was the latest to be confirmed as infected, while an American was suspected of infection after initial testing. Passengers began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the MV Hondius anchored in the Canary Islands.

Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife, an effort that concluded Monday. "If they stayed longer on the ship, the situation could have been difficult,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. He said citizens of the countries passengers are returning to should know "there is nothing to fear, the risk is low, this is not another COVID.”

Three cruise ship passengers have died, and six people with confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus are being quarantined, according to the WHO. The lab results of the American who tested positive were inconclusive, WHO spokesperson Sarah Tyler said Monday. Health authorities say it's the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship.

While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates. The ship's captain, Jan Dobrogowski, issued a video message Monday praising passengers and crew for their courage and perseverance, and he called for respect for their privacy. "I could not imagine sailing through these circumstances with a better group of people, guests and crew alike,” he said.

The French woman who tested positive for the hantavirus was in intensive care in stable condition at a Paris hospital, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Monday. He said four French passengers who returned Sunday tested negative but remained in isolation at the same hospital. One of 18 evacuated passengers flown to the US also tested positive for the hantavirus but was not showing symptoms, while another had mild symptoms, US health officials said.

After landing early Monday, 16 American passengers - one of them a British-US dual citizen - were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which has a federally funded quarantine facility and a biocontainment unit for treating people with highly infectious diseases.

They were being assessed to determine if they had close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus. An American who tested positive for hantavirus on the cruise ship was taken to the Omaha campus' biocontainment unit and will be tested again. The passenger "is doing well and not having symptoms at this time,” said Dr. Angela Hewlett, the unit's medical director.