Five Passengers From Hantavirus Infected Cruise Ship Leave National Quarantine Unit
by John Gage
(Picture credit UNMC Instagram)
OMAHA – Five passengers from the M/V Hondius cruise ship that had an outbreak of Hantavirus left the National Quarantine Unit on Tuesday following three weeks of observation on UNMC’s campus in Omaha.
UNMC said in a media release that the former passengers would continue to be monitored for 21 days under the supervision of local and state health departments.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requested the individuals from the cruise ship associated with a Hantavirus remain at the NQU through Sunday, May 31,” UNMC said. “The CDC has also been coordinating with impacted states on requirements for the passengers to continue self-monitoring at their homes.”
UNMC said the passengers did not fly commercially and “appropriate biocontainment measures were in place” during their travels back home. The quarantine and monitoring of passengers has continued, as symptoms for Hantavirus can take as long as 42 days to appear. UNMC said that the passengers had been “strongly encouraged” to spend the full 42 days at the Quarantine Unit, and that 13 passengers will “remain in Omaha for monitoring.”
Governor Jim Pillen responded to the news Tuesday, saying the guest who went home return with a “lower risk profile.”
“This is a positive development and the product of the ongoing partnership between the state of Nebraska, UNMC, and our federal health partners,” Pillen said. “While it is encouraging that many of our guests are remaining at the NQU for the last few weeks of their hantavirus quarantine, those who have elected to go home are doing so with a lower risk profile and in close coordination with health authorities in their destination states.”
The National Quarantine Unit has gone viral on social media during the recent quarantining of passengers as influencer Jake Rosmarin, who was on the cruise when the outbreak occurred, has been sending out a series of video-blogs about his stay at the center.
— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.