American Returning from Hantavirus Cruise Ship Tests Positive, With a Second Showing “Mild Symptoms”

[Conservative Angle]

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On Sunday, all 140 MV Hondius cruise ship passengers were evacuated off of the boat in Spain following a deadly outbreak of the rare hantavirus.

Among them were 17 Americans who flew back to the United States.

If you missed it, here’s our original report on that:

Seventeen Americans Evacuated from Hantavirus Cruise Ship — Here’s What Will Happen Next

Now, we have an unfortunate update.

One of the American passengers has tested positive for the Andes strain of the hantavirus, which is transmissible from human to human.

And, another is showing “mild symptoms,” though it has not yet been confirmed whether or not they are infected with the virus.

An American citizen on a repatriation flight began showing symptoms of hantavirus and another "tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus" after being evacuated from the cruise ship that was hit with the deadly outbreak, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday… pic.twitter.com/rMdIxGom7F

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 11, 2026

An American citizen on a repatriation flight began showing symptoms of hantavirus and another “tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus” after being evacuated from the cruise ship that was hit with the deadly outbreak, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday night.

Both of these sick passengers were transported in the plane’s biocontainment units on their way to a medical center in Nebraska.

The HHS released this statement:

HHS through @ASPRgov and @CDCgov is supporting @StateDept in the repatriation of 17 American citizens from the MV Hondius cruise ship affected by the Andes variant of hantavirus.

All 17 are currently en route via @StateDept airlift to the United States, with two of the…

— HHS (@HHSGov) May 11, 2026

HHS through @ASPRgov and @CDCgov is supporting @StateDept in the repatriation of 17 American citizens from the MV Hondius cruise ship affected by the Andes variant of hantavirus.

All 17 are currently en route via @StateDept airlift to the United States, with two of the passengers travelling in the plane’s biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution. One passenger currently has mild symptoms and another passenger tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus.

As of now, the airlift will transport passengers to the ASPR Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska before taking the passenger with mild symptoms to a second RESPTC at its final destination.

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

Now, all of the American passengers will spend time at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where the passenger who tested positive for hantavirus will be taken to another biocontainment unit.

In addition to the two American passengers who are sick, one French passenger is showing symptoms of hantavirus.

AP News reported further:

Earlier, one of the five French passengers developed symptoms on their flight home, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement, and all were put into strict isolation with plans to be tested.

Passengers were evacuated off the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast.

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.

The aircraft carrying the Americans was due to arrive in Omaha, Nebraska, early Monday.

The Americans would first be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, 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 medical school also has a special unit for treating people with highly infectious diseases that was used early in the pandemic for COVID-19 patients and previously for Ebola patients.

“One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring. The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms,” said Kayla Thomas, a spokesperson for the Nebraska Medicine hospital that will help care for the passengers.

Authorities continue to emphasize that this will not lead to another COVID pandemic (or plandemic) situation because the hantavirus is not nearly as contagious.

The WHO has declared public risk to be “low.”

CBS News has more on that:

Hantaviruses are a family of diseases that are spread to people from rodents through urine, droppings or saliva, according to the CDC. It can take up to eight weeks after contact for symptoms to develop.

WHO says that the Andes strain of the virus, which is found in Latin America, is the only one that is known to be able to transmit the virus through human-to-human contact, with Tedros assessing the public risk as “low.”

He told CBS News at a briefing Sunday morning that Americans “shouldn’t worry” about the impending return of cruise passengers who are U.S. citizens and encouraged people to put their trust in health officials.

“This is not another COVID, and the risk to the public is low. So, they shouldn’t be scared and they shouldn’t panic,” said Tedros. He also said several years of scientific evaluations of the virus and its behavior, in addition to how the virus has behaved so far in this particular outbreak, have informed that judgement.

Tedros’ assessment was echoed by the acting CDC director. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that U.S. passengers being brought home are likely reaching the peak of the virus’ incubation cycle this week and “nearing the end of the transmission window.”

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