Five US passengers from hantavirus-hit ship return to home states

June 2 - Five U.S. residents who were on the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship have returned to their home states following three weeks of monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the facility said on Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had requested the individuals from the cruise ship remain at the NQU through May 31.

UNMC said the five passengers will continue to be monitored for the next 21 days under the jurisdiction of their local and state public health departments.

According to CDC, forty-one U.S. residents are being monitored for possible infection, 18 of whom were passengers on the ship and returned to the United States before the hantavirus outbreak was identified. REUTERS