US to Evacuate Americans from Hantavirus Cruise Ship to Nebraska Base

The U.S. government plans to evacuate American passengers from a cruise ship tied to a deadly hantavirus outbreak. Officials will fly them to a military base in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, federal health officials said Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated the risk to the American public remains extremely low. The agency is arranging a medical repatriation flight for passengers on the M/V Hondius.

President Donald Trump said Friday that the situation appears under control. He noted the virus is difficult to transmit. "We have very good people looking at it. It seems to be okay. They know the virus very well. They've worked with it for a long time. They know it very well. Not easy to pass on. So we hope that's true," Trump said.

"We seem to have things under very good control. They know that virus very well. It's been around a long time. Not easily transferable, unlike COVID. But we'll see. We have very good people studying it very closely."

The outbreak grew over several weeks. It started with a passenger who fell ill in early April and has led to at least three deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Cases have appeared in multiple countries after passengers left the ship in Africa and Europe. Health officials are tracing contacts worldwide.

Authorities in Cape Verde once blocked passengers from disembarking, highlighting containment worries.

Hantavirus is a rare but potentially fatal illness usually spread by contact with infected rodents or their droppings, the CDC said. Most strains do not pass between people. Officials noted the Andes virus, found in some ship-linked cases, is the only known strain with limited person-to-person spread.

The ship is due to dock in Spain's Canary Islands. International teams there are planning next steps for passengers and crew.

A CDC team has gone to the Canary Islands to check potential exposure among Americans and decide on monitoring.

The passengers will fly on a U.S. government medical repatriation flight to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. From there, they go to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for more checks.

Extra CDC staff will be at Offutt Air Force Base to aid health assessments.