U.S. Confirms One Resident Tested Positive for Hantavirus

(MENAFN) A passenger from the hantavirus-stricken Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has tested positive for the deadly virus, while a second American traveler is showing mild symptoms — prompting an emergency airlift of all 17 U.S. citizens aboard back to the United States, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Sunday.

The two affected passengers are being transported inside the aircraft's biocontainment units as a precautionary measure, the department disclosed in a post on social platform X.

Nebraska Medical Facility First Stop in Emergency Response
The airlift is routing all 17 American nationals first to the Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. The passenger presenting mild symptoms will subsequently be transferred to a second RESPTC located at their final destination.

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

Death Toll Climbs — Eight Suspected Cases Now Recorded
As of Saturday, the outbreak had produced eight suspected cases and claimed three lives, according to the department — figures that reflect a rapidly deteriorating public health situation tied to a single voyage.

The MV Hondius has now become the epicenter of an international hantavirus emergency spanning multiple countries and continents.

A Rare but Lethal Pathogen
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the incubation period for hantavirus — from initial exposure to the onset of symptoms — at between one and eight weeks. Primarily transmitted through contact with infected rodents, the virus can, in rare circumstances, pass directly between humans. Its lethality is severe: more than one in three infected individuals do not survive.

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