90-Second Read: Doctor on ship who helped care for passengers with Hantavirus cleared to leave biocontainment unit isolation

A doctor who helped care for passengers with Hantavirus was cleared to leave isolation in a special biocontainment unit. Stephen Kornfeld, a retired oncologist, helped care for sick passengers aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius after the ship's doctor got severely ill. The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a total of 11 Hantavirus cases linked to the cruise have been reported worldwide, including three deaths.

Kornfeld told CNN Tuesday that he was isolated in a biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. On Wednesday, the hospital announced that Kornfeld would join the 15 other Americans who were taken for monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit instead of the biocontainment unit. While on board the ship, Kornfeld was tested for Hantavirus.

The risk to the general public from the cruise ship outbreak is low, according to public health officials. Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people, though the Andes virus detected on the MV Hondius may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Two of his samples were sent to different laboratories in the Netherlands.