90-Second Read: One of the 17 Americans from Hantavirus-hit cruise ship has tested positive

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. 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. 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.

Three people have died since the outbreak began, and five passengers who left the ship earlier are infected with Hantavirus. 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. One of the five French passengers developed symptoms on the flight, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement, and all were put into strict isolation with plans to be tested.

Nebraska Medicine said the one passenger who tested positive was managed separately from other passengers during transport using appropriate biocontainment measures. 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.

The journey to Rotterdam takes about five days, the cruise company said. 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. Passengers were relieved to be on their way home, another WHO official said.