90-Second Read: CDC requiring some former cruise passengers to stay in Hantavirus quarantine

The CDC has issued quarantine orders for two passengers from the M/V Hondius cruise ship to remain at the Nebraska Quarantine Facility until May 31. The Trump administration is forcing two American passengers who were exposed to the Hantavirus to stay in a special quarantine facility in Nebraska. CDC said last week there are no cases of the Andes strain of Hantavirus in the U.S. The quarantine orders were signed by CDC acting director Jay Bhattacharya, citing public health laws.

That period is when the risk of becoming symptomatic from the Hantavirus is at its highest. CDC officials initially said the passengers were being asked to stay for monitoring but the agency was not going to use its mandatory quarantine authority. The 18 passengers who disembarked from the ship arrived in the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha last week.

Since that time, CDC said three additional cases of Hantavirus have been identified, one each in France, Spain and Canada. Quarantine is a public health measure, available at the federal, state, and county level, and used as necessary to protect communities. Officials indicated the passengers would likely not be required to stay for the full 42-day incubation period for the virus.