US repatriates 17 citizens from cruise ship after hantavirus outbreak

The US government has begun repatriating 17 American nationals from a cruise ship where hantavirus broke out, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday.

A State Department-chartered flight carried the Americans aboard the MV Hondius after the vessel docked Sunday in Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, the health service said on US social media platform X.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also coordinated the evacuation effort.

Two passengers, one of whom was experiencing mild symptoms and another who tested positive for the virus, traveled in the aircraft's biocontainment units.

The passengers will be taken first to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The symptomatic passenger will later be transferred to a second specialized treatment center.

"Upon arrival at each facility, each individual will undergo clinical assessment and receive appropriate care and support based on their condition," the health service said.

The CDC has classified the outbreak as a Level 3 emergency response, the agency's lowest emergency activation level.

The outbreak, involving the Andes strain of hantavirus, has resulted in five confirmed cases, including three deaths, according to officials from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Scientists confirmed the outbreak was caused by the rare Andes variant of hantavirus, the only known strain capable of human-to-human transmission, usually through close contact.

The WHO said two passengers who later died had traveled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay before boarding the ship.

CDC officials said passengers will be monitored for about six weeks, reflecting the virus' incubation period, while health authorities in several US states are also tracking travelers who had already left the vessel before the outbreak was confirmed.