Seventeen Americans infected with the Andes strain of hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius are returning on a medical flight. They will land at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha early Monday and be transferred to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for monitoring. The flight follows a CDC‑led evacuation after the outbreak emerged in late April.

Two passengers travel in biocontainment pods; one shows mild symptoms, the other tested mildly PCR‑positive but remains asymptomatic. The 20‑room facility features individual ventilation that continuously expels air, a design first used in 2014 for Ebola evacuations and later for early COVID‑19 cases. These measures aim to prevent secondary transmission as the virus spreads through close contact.

CDC epidemiologists met the group when the ship docked off Spain’s Canary Islands and conducted exposure assessments. While three crew members have died and five fell ill, officials say the public health risk in the United States stays extremely low. States such as Georgia, California and Arizona continue to monitor passengers who returned earlier on commercial flights and have been placed under active surveillance.