90-Second Read: Where should Hantavirus cruise ship passengers quarantine? Experts are divided

If passengers are allowed to leave the federal quarantine centers and stay home instead, they would need to be symptom-free. Eleven cases of Hantavirus are reported among the nearly 150 passengers. One of the quarantined people in Atlanta has had mild symptoms but tested negative for Hantavirus. Eighteen Americans are now in quarantine in two federal centers after having returned home from the MV Hondius cruise ship.

Chan School of Public Health, said a strict quarantine is a "small price to pay" to prevent more cases and potential deaths. If a physical interaction with another person is necessary, passengers from the ship should wear N95 respirators. It's possible that quarantine guidance for the 18 passengers could change in the coming days. Sixteen of the 18 Americans are at the National Quarantine Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Andes strain is the only Hantavirus that can spread from person to person. While there are some reports of people's catching it through casual contact, most scientists that say it doesn't spread easily and that there's no clear proof that people are contagious before they have symptoms. The WHO recommends that people who quarantine at home remain separated from family members in different rooms. This is both a public health and humanitarian response." The passengers "were in international waters and living in a nightmare for more than a month.

None of the other passengers in Omaha or Atlanta have tested positive. Recommendations for quarantine are "based on what we understand about the incubation period," Broadhurst said at the pathologists briefing Tuesday. It can take up to 42 days after exposure to the virus for symptoms to appear.