Workouts, TV And Hantavirus Tests: Inside The US Quarantine Unit

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Fifteen US citizens exposed to hantavirus on the Hondius cruise ship are under observation at the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, but their accommodations are closer to ship's cabins than cold hospital rooms.

“It is much more like a hotel than a patient care space,” said Angela Hewlett, medical director of the biocontainment unit at a briefing Monday held by the University of Nebraska Medical Center, home of the quarantine unit.

The travelers can expect TVs, Wi-Fi, en-suite bathrooms and exercise equipment, she said, all there to ease their next few weeks of medical observation as doctors and health officials work to stop the outbreak in the US.

People also ask

AI powered insights from this story

.5 QUESTIONS1What is the National Quarantine Unit and why was it activated for the hantavirus outbreak?⌵

The National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, is a federally funded isolation facility established in 2019. It was activated to monitor US citizens exposed to the Andes strain of hantavirus from the Hondius cruise ship, aiming to prevent further spread in the US.

2How long are passengers quarantined and what is the recommended isolation period for hantavirus?⌵

The recommended isolation period is 42 days, which is the incubation period for the Andes strain of hantavirus. Passengers are monitored and assessed over several days to determine if extended isolation is necessary.

3Can passengers choose to leave the quarantine facility early?⌵

Yes, passengers can choose to go home. Doctors will evaluate if the person is symptom-free, has access to medical care, and can isolate in a separate part of their home to avoid contagion.

4What are the accommodations like at the National Quarantine Unit?⌵

Accommodations are designed to be comfortable, resembling hotel rooms or ship's cabins rather than traditional hospital rooms. They include amenities like TVs, Wi-Fi, en-suite bathrooms, and exercise equipment.

5What is the Andes strain of hantavirus and how does it spread?⌵

The Andes strain is the only known hantavirus variant capable of spreading between people through close contact. It can spread in shared spaces even without direct physical contact, such as during short interactions in crowded indoor settings.

The National Quarantine Unit, a federally funded isolation facility, has only been activated once before, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Established in 2019, the center contains 20 rooms with individual negative air pressure systems in addition to creature comforts.

The US passengers in quarantine range from their late 20s to their early 80s in age, according to Michael Wadman, director of the National Quarantine Unit.

The recommended isolation for 42 days is the incubation period of the Andes strain of the hantavirus – a“conservative time frame,” said Brendan Jackson, acting director for high-consequence pathogens at the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. All the ship's confirmed cases were caused by the Andes strain, the only one known to move from person to person.

But the US passengers aren't being forced to be there. If a patients chooses to go home, doctors will evaluate if the person is symptom-free, has access to medical care and can isolate in a separate part of their home to avoid contagion.

“We want to do this in the least restrictive way possible that is still safe, that protects the health and safety of both the passengers and their communities,” Jackson said.

One more patient from the ship, who had tested positive for hantavirus prior to arriving, has been isolated in UNMC's Biocontainment Unit. That hospital room can treat anyone from patients who have tested positive but are stable, as the current individual is, to those who are critically ill.

Another two US passengers, a couple, are isolated at Emory University in Atlanta after one of them developed symptoms though hasn't tested positive.

Officials have elected to distribute care among different facilities to reduce the strain on a single hospital system, said John Knox, principal deputy assistant secretary at the US Health and Human Services' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

While all the US passengers of the Hondius have elected to remain quarantined, it's essential that any who choose to leave remain close to a hospital, said Hewlett, since there are no US approved treatments for the Andes hantavirus.

“Because of that, we rely on aggressive support care,” Hewlett said, which ranges from IV fluids to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation - a life-saving measure that pumps blood to a heart-lung machine to remove carbon dioxide and get oxygen back into the body.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

MENAFN11052026007365015876ID1111099391