No
Nebraska DHHS is in close communication and active coordination with federal, state, and local partners to ensure our fellow American citizens returning from the M/V Hondius cruise ship are safely transported to the Nebraska Quarantine Unit to receive the appropriate care and support they need. Officials continue to closely monitor the situation. There is no threat to public safety.
For updates on the current status of passengers of the M/V Hondius cruise ship, please visit the Nebraska Medicine website.
Overview
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses found naturally in rodents that rarely cause disease in humans. Humans usually get hantavirus from contact with rodents, especially when exposed to their urine, droppings, or saliva. Hantaviruses are found globally, with variants in different areas of the world.
New World Hantaviruses found in the Western Hemisphere, including here in the United States, can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a severe and potentially deadly disease that affects the lungs.
Human infections typically start with mild flu-like symptoms, including respiratory and gastrointestinal distress, that can lead to severe lung, heart, or other organ damage.
Early symptoms can include:
- Headache
- Fever
- Muscle aches/back pain
- Cough
- Chest pain
- Loss of appetite
- Difficulty breathing
- Abdominal problems (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain)
Nebraska has
reported fewer than 10 hantavirus cases since 1993.
Recent M/V Hondius Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak Information
There is no threat to public safety.
The strain involved in the recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is the Andes virus, the most common type of hantavirus in South America and the only known hantavirus capable of spreading person-to-person through prolonged close contact with an ill person.
After being exposed to the Andes virus, symptoms can start anywhere from 4 to 42 days later, but most people start feeling sick on average 18 days after exposure.
People with the Andes virus have not been known to spread it to others before they start showing symptoms.
For more information:
Nebraska Quarantine and Biocontainment Unit
Nebraska is home to the only National Quarantine Unit (NQU) in the United States, as well as one of only 13 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs), both located at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
For more information, visit https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/programs/nbu/index.html