American evacuated from hantavirus-hit cruise ship tests positive

TENERIFE, Canary Islands — One the 17 American passengers evacuated from a cruise ship In the Canary Islands has tested positive for the hantavirus but is not showing any symptoms, U.S. health officials said late Sunday.

The charter flight was carrying 17 Americans evacuated off the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast. The aircraft was due to arrive in Omaha, Nebraska, early Monday.

The Americans would first be flown to the University of Nebraska, which has a federally funded quarantine facility, to assess whether they have been in close contact with any symptomatic people and their risk levels for spreading the virus.

“One passenger will be transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arrival, while other passengers will go to the National Quarantine Unit for assessment and monitoring. The passenger who is going to the Biocontainment Unit tested positive for the virus but does not have symptoms,” said Kayla Thomas, a spokesperson for The Nebraska Medical Center.