The 17 Americans still stranded aboard the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship are set to be evacuated to a quarantine center in Nebraska in the coming days, the CDC said Sunday – but not until after the 13 Spanish nationals aboard disembark.
The MV Hondius docked in Tenerife Sunday to begin the weeklong evacuation process for the ship’s 147 passengers – who hail from a dozen countries and are being taken off the boat in groups by nationality.
The American passengers are next up, and will be taken on a US government medical repatriation flight to the National Quarantine Unit, overseen by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center for further evaluation and quarantine.
The facility, the only federally-funded quarantine unit in the country, offers 20 single-occupancy rooms, each with their own private bathrooms, and are equipped with negative air pressure systems to ensure the safety of those potentially infected by infectious diseases.
“Unit personnel consists of a voluntary staff of select physicians, nursing, nursing assistants and respiratory therapists specially trained in high-level isolation and bio preparedness,” Nebraska Medicine and UNMC said on its website.
Rooms are outfitted with exercise equipment and even WiFi connectivity for patients requiring extended stays.
The CDC will also deploy a team to Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska to “support public health assessment of returning passengers,” the agency told ABC News.
The World Health Organization has recommended a 42-day isolation period for the passengers of the ill-fated vessel, which departed from Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1.