90-Second Read: Hantavirus cases rise to 11 as cruise ship passengers quarantine

A total of 11 Hantavirus cases have been confirmed as of Tuesday morning, with global health officials warning that the number could rise, as one American who was on the deadly cruise ship revealed new details from his quarantine room. Jake Rosmarin, one of the American passengers currently quarantined in Omaha, Nebraska, spoke to NBC News from his room at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Given Hantavirus's long incubation period of 42 days, "we might see more cases in the coming weeks," said Dr. Since the 18 Americans arrived stateside, two of those ship passengers are in biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. Rosmarin said finding out about the Hantavirus outbreak "was a really scary moment.

The luxury cruise ship arrived early Sunday at the island of Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands off West Africa, where passengers started repatriating to their home countries. Passengers received health screenings upon arrival in Spain, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement. This isn't the first Hantavirus outbreak in recent history. He and 15 other Americans will remain quarantined in the National Quarantine Center in Nebraska for a few days after returning home from the MV Hondius on Monday. I'm happy to be in a place where I know we are well-cared for and if anything happens, we have the medical attention that we need," Rosmarin said on "TODAY," adding that he has no symptoms and has not tested positive for the virus.

But further research led him to realize that Hantavirus is well known, which somewhat calmed his nerves. Let me be crystal clear: the risk of Hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low. American and global health officials have stressed throughout the outbreak that the risk to the wider public is low and that transmission is limited to close contact. Thirty-four people were sickened after several people with Hantavirus attended a variety of social events, including a birthday party. Tedros Adhanom-Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization.

In Spain and France, officials have said that everyone who has been exposed to the deadly virus must quarantine for the full incubation period. Brendan Jackson, acting director of the high-consequence pathogens and pathology division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledged that there's a lot more to learn about Hantavirus. Officials have maintained that the public health system is working exactly as intended. There is particular attention on a bird-watching trip in southern Argentina, which the first passenger to die took part in before joining the cruise. All of the ship's passengers and a "limited" number of its crewmembers had disembarked by the end of the day Monday.