An American has tested positive and a French traveller developed symptoms aboard their separate aircraft journey after passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship began flying home aboard military and government planes.
One of the 17 American passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius tested positive for the hantavirus but is not showing any symptoms, US health officials said today.
Earlier, one of the five French passengers developed symptoms on their flight home, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement, and all were put into strict isolation with plans to be tested.
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Passengers were evacuated from the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast.
Earlier, officials from the Spanish Health Ministry, the World Health Organisation, and the cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions had said none of the more than 140 people who were then on the Hondius had shown symptoms of the virus.
The aircraft carrying the Americans was due to arrive in Omaha, Nebraska today.
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They would first be taken 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 Centre.
From the ship, all of the passengers were escorted to shore by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks.
Spanish passengers were the first to leave, flown to Madrid and taken to a military hospital.
Hours later, a plane that evacuated French passengers landed in Paris, where it was met by emergency vehicles.
Meanwhile, plans for the Australians from the ship have been revealed.
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Australians will be taken to a Sydney hospital once they arrive home.
NSW Health said it's working with the federal government on the plan for the four Australian passengers from the ship, where three people have died.
They'll be taken to the NSW Biocontainment Centre at Westmead Hospital once they get home from the Canaries, where it is now docked.
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Unveiled in 2023, it is a special unit to isolate patients with rare, highly infectious diseases.
The cruise ship patients will be assessed and have quarantine arrangements planned.
They're due to land in a charter flight in Perth tomorrow.
"These passengers will be closely monitored, and should any develop symptoms, they will be assessed by an infectious diseases physician and be provided appropriate care," NSW Health said.
"The risk to the public is low."
– with Associated Press
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