90-Second Read: Americans on Hantavirus-infected cruise have boarded a plane back to the U.S.

The cruise ship at the center of the Hantavirus outbreak has arrived at the Spanish island of Tenerife, where its 147 passengers are expected to disembark. Passengers evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship began flying home Sunday aboard military and government planes after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands, where travelers were escorted to shore by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks. Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five passengers who left the ship earlier are infected with Hantavirus. Maria Van Kerkhove further explains Hantavirus outbreak: 'This is not COVID' Spanish passengers were the first to leave the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast.

Nebraska Medicine has announced that one passenger expected to land in Omaha Monday morning has tested positive for Hantavirus, but does not show any symptoms. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Meanwhile, a Spanish woman in the southeastern province of Alicante suspected of being infected tested negative for Hantavirus, Spanish health authorities said Saturday. Hours later, a plane that evacuated French passengers landed in Paris, where it was met by emergency vehicles.

Earlier, officials from the Spanish Health Ministry, the World Health Organization and the cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions had said none of the more than 140 people who were then on the Hondius had shown symptoms of the virus. Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings, and the disease not easily transmitted between people. Jay Bhattacharya, said Americans would first be flown to the University of Nebraska, which has a federally funded quarantine facility, to assess whether they have been in close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus. Norway sent an ambulance plane to the island with personnel trained to transport patients with high-risk infections, its Directorate for Civil Protection told public broadcaster NRK.

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. Elsewhere, British Army medics parachuted onto the remote South Atlantic territory of Tristan da Cunha, where one of the 221 residents has a suspected case of Hantavirus. Authorities have said the disembarking passengers and crew members will be checked for symptoms and will be forbidden from having any contact with the local population.