American evacuated from cruise ship tests positive for hantavirus, another has symptoms, HHS confirms

One of the American citizens evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship and flown back to the U.S. tested positive for hantavirus without symptoms, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and another person had mild symptoms. Those two Americans traveled "in the plane's biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution," HHS noted in a Sunday night post on X. While HHS had initially indicated that 17 Americans from the ship were being repatriated to the U.S., it clarified in a Monday post on X that there were 18 individuals on the flight to the U.S., including one who is a dual U.S.-British citizen. That dual national "is at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) in Omaha with 15 of the other repatriated passengers," HHS noted in the post. CRUISE SHIP LINKED TO DEADLY HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK ARRIVES OFF TENERIFE AS PASSENGER EVACUATION BEGINS The flight touched down in Nebraska early Monday morning. Three individuals died since the outbreak started. "One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring," a Nebraska Medicine Facebook post issued on Sunday night stated. "The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms. They were 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." HHS's post on Monday morning also noted, "Two passengers from the airlift, including one who traveled with mild symptoms in the plane's biocontainment unit, are now at Emory University's RESPTC in Atlanta." HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK TIMELINE HIGHLIGHTS KEY MOMENTS IN DEADLY CRUISE CRISIS A French individual tested positive and her health declined in the hospital overnight, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist noted Monday. The outlet reported that the individual was one of five from France aboard the vessel who were repatriated Sunday. The woman developed symptoms while flying to Paris, Rist informed public broadcaster France-Inter. "Andes virus is a type of hantavirus spread by rodents in South America and, less commonly, by other infected people. The rodents that carry Andes virus have not been found in the United States. It can cause a severe respiratory disease in people, called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HANTAVIRUS IN THE US: WHERE THE RARE, SOMETIMES DEADLY DISEASE HAS BEEN FOUND "Andes virus is the only type of hantavirus that is known to spread person-to-person. This spread is usually limited to people who have close contact with a sick person. This includes direct physical contact, prolonged time spent in close or enclosed spaces, and exposure to the sick person's body fluids," the CDC explained. The Associated Press contributed to this report.