Following an outbreak on a cruise ship, two individuals under quarantine and under hantavirus surveillance are leaving the federal isolation center and heading back to their homes in New York.
Thirteen passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are being watched for signs of the rodent-borne illness for the whole 42-day incubation period, and one of the three New Yorkers exposed to hantavirus will stay in isolation at a hospital in Nebraska.
This week, a total of five individuals departed that institution to return to their home states, where they will continue to be closely watched until June 22.
After departing the Nebraska facility, the two New Yorkers will take non-commercial aircraft back to their residences in the vicinity of New York City.
The cruise ship cluster is caused by the Andes strain of hantavirus, which takes 42 days to incubate. Therefore, a person who has been exposed to the virus may not exhibit flu-like symptoms for over six weeks.
This spring, the MV Hondius became the focal point of a rare hantavirus outbreak, turning a regular trip around the arctic tip of South America into a public health disaster.
The ship, which sailed from Argentina in early April with more than 100 passengers and 61 staff members, has now been connected to 13 confirmed cases and three fatalities, including a German individual and a married Dutch couple.
Unlike most other hantaviruses, which need direct contact with rodent droppings, the Andes strain is a rare variety that can transfer from person to person through intimate contact.
On May 10, 2026, a passenger from the hantavirus-affected cruise ship MV Hondius was sprayed with disinfectant on the tarmac at Tenerife South Airport in the Canary Islands, Spain.
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The majority of the 18 Americans who were exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius were transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit in Omaha for observation.
While they waited for the virus’s exceptionally lengthy incubation period to expire, they have lived in nearly complete isolation in rooms that resemble hotel suites with Wi-Fi, a television, and exercise bikes.
Health experts are on high alert due to the Andes strain’s potential to transmit from person to person and the delayed onset of symptoms, even though none have displayed any symptoms.
Officials from the New York State Department of Health confirmed on Friday that two state residents who had been placed under quarantine were coming home.
According to them, the two have decided to spend the next 20 days at home and refrain from interacting with anyone.
Officials said there will be “24/7 oversight,” with monitors placed close to people’s houses, as an additional safety measure.
Many epidemiologists believe that the virus is unlikely to become a pandemic, and health officials maintain that there is little overall risk to the population.
Four to forty-two days can pass between exposure and the onset of illness.
Thirteen Americans who were exposed to the hantavirus on the cruise liner MV Hondius are being monitored for symptoms at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Fever, exhaustion, and aches in the muscles are early signs. These are often confused for the flu, but unlike the flu, hantavirus can rapidly worsen.
As the lungs fill with fluid, the illness can quickly worsen into severe pneumonia and breathing difficulties.
Although hantavirus is uncommon, it poses a serious threat. Compared to more prevalent viruses like the flu or Covid, 35% of hantavirus cases in the US have resulted in death during the past 30 years.
The strain thought to be responsible for the present cruise ship cluster infected 34 people and killed 11 during the 2018 Andes virus outbreak in Argentina.
No vaccines have been approved, and no particular antiviral medications have been shown to be effective against the hantavirus.
When a patient is really sick, they can be given oxygen, mechanical ventilation, or, in the worst situations, an ECMO system, which replaces the heart and lungs while the body battles the infection.
An American in isolation at the Nebraska facility told NBC News last month that his time in quarantine there was like being in “prison.”
The 30-year-old man informed the outlet that he wanted to quarantine at home but wished to keep his identity a secret.
At Tenerife Sur Airport, a passenger from the hantavirus-affected MV Hondius is seen getting aboard a flight to the Netherlands. There won’t be any commercial flights carrying the New Yorkers going home from quarantine.
He remarked, “I’m being held here against my will, so in that sense it’s a prison term. I mean, it’s a perfectly nice prison, but I’m still here involuntarily.”
Whether he is one of the passengers under quarantine who is allowed to remain at home is unclear.
When a Dutch man became unwell on board the MV Hondius on April 6, the first indications of the deadly hantavirus appeared. Five days later, he was dead.
It wasn’t until the ship docked on St. Helena Island in the South Atlantic on April 24 that his body was taken out. His wife also got off at that point, and the following day she flew to South Africa, where she passed away.
Eighteen Americans were removed from the ship in the weeks that followed. They are currently under federal quarantine.
The Dutch guy, his spouse, and a German woman who passed away on board on May 2 are the three passengers who have died as a result of the illness.
According to health officials, the outbreak may have originated from two travelers who may have contracted the virus while on a birding excursion at an Argentine dump.
