US says 18 passengers flown back after hantavirus outbreak on ship

By Christy Santhosh and Michael Erman

May 11 (Reuters) - ‌U.S. Department of Health ​and Human ​Services officials said on Monday that 18 passengers from the luxury cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak were flown back to the U.S. and quarantined, with the one passenger who tested positive in a Nebraska ‌biocontainment unit.

The passengers are currently being monitored for hantavirus at U.S. medical facilities, with 16 of ⁠them at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and two in Atlanta, including one who is experiencing symptoms, the officials said at a press briefing.

The group ‌had been aboard the MV Hondius, a ‌luxury expedition cruise ship linked to an outbreak of the Andes virus, the only hantavirus species known to be capable of limited spread from person-to-person. Hantavirus is usually spread by wild rodents.

The U.S. health officials said the risk to the ​general public remains very low. Admiral Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health at the agency, said the Andes virus "does not spread easily" and generally requires prolonged close contact with someone who is symptomatic.

President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters at the ⁠Oval Office, when asked about the U.S.'s handling of the Hantavirus, said, "I think (it was) fine."

Seven cases of the Andes hantavirus have now been confirmed among people who were ​passengers on board the cruise ship, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

When asked if he regrets withdrawing from the WHO, Trump added, "No, I'm glad."

Officials said the two passengers sent to Atlanta ​were a couple, one of whom had symptoms, and were taken to ‌Emory University's biocontainment unit to help preserve Nebraska's capacity for any other passengers who might need higher-level care.

Emory University Hospital said it has received two passengers from the MV Hondius following the ⁠outbreak, with one symptomatic individual being treated in its biocontainment unit and an asymptomatic close contact, who was being monitored.

The hospital said it was coordinating with local, state and federal partners and that it is part of the federally supported National Special Pathogen System, which provides specialized capabilities ⁠for safely managing high-consequence infectious diseases.

Angela Hewlett, an infectious disease physician and medical director of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, said the individual taken there ​was "doing well" and had not shown any symptoms.

Hewlett said officials would continue monitoring the individual and "ensure that they remain asymptomatic."

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who also spoke at the Oval Office, said he has been speaking with the University of Nebraska "since the second day of the outbreak" ‌as well as with Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen.

"We had a CDC team at Tenerife. We had airplanes ready to take the patients... We have this under control, and we're not worried ‌about it," Kennedy said.

Officials said the quarantined passengers ranged in age from their late 20s to late 70s or early 80s, and could remain ⁠under monitoring for up to 42 days.

The group ‌included 17 U.S. citizens and one British ​dual national who chose to return to the United States.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru, Michael Erman in New Jersey, additional reporting by Sriparna Roy, Ismail Shakil, Siddhi Mahatole and Sneha S K; Editing ‌by Maju Samuel)

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