90-Second Read: 17 American passengers from Hantavirus-hit cruise ship land in Nebraska
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Noah Davidson
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Published May 11, 2026

17 American passengers from a Hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrived in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring after one passenger tested positive The 17 American passengers evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship landed in Nebraska early Monday. All of the passengers will be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center to assess whether they have been in close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus. A French woman evacuated from the cruise ship tested positive for Hantavirus and her health worsened in the hospital overnight, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said Monday. Sister station KETV in Omaha reports the passenger with Hantavirus was separated from the others on board for treatment. One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other.
The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms," said Kayla Thomas, a spokesperson for the Nebraska Medicine hospital that will help care for the passengers. She was among five French passengers repatriated Sunday to Paris from the MV Hondius. Passengers from the ship began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks had escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife in an effort that was continuing Monday. So they shouldn't be scared, and they shouldn't panic," he said Sunday.
According to FlightAware, the Boeing 747 operated by Kalitta Air took off from Tenerife, Spain and landed at Eppley Airfield in Omaha just before 2:30 a.m. The medical school also has a special unit for treating people with highly infectious diseases that was used early in the pandemic for COVID-19 patients and previously for Ebola patients. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stressed that the general public should not be worried about the outbreak. Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five people who left the ship earlier were infected.
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Based on reporting from WISN. Read the original source for full details.
Source published May 11, 5:01 AM EDT. Hantavirus Now reviewed reporting from WISN and summarized the key points below.
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