One tested positive before arrival expected to be taken to biocontainment unit; another symptomatic passenger believed to be bound for Washington, D.C.

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Americans aboard ship at center of hantavirus outbreak to quarantine in Nebraska, meet with CDC teams

Medical crews were waiting for them at the airport, and moved close to the plane once it landed, remaining there for more than two hours.

Just before 5 a.m., the medical vehicles pulled away from the plane and traveled to the Nebraska Medicine campus; however, the passengers were loaded from the plane to the shuttles away from view of news media.

Nebraska Medicine and UNMC experts are scheduled to gather with officials for a briefing at 9 a.m. Monday. Watch it live in our streaming app.

All but two of the passengers are asymptomatic, meaning they aren’t showing any signs of being sick. The one American who tested positive but doesn’t have symptoms is expected go straight to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, which is separate from the quarantine unit, where the rest of the exposed passengers will be treated as needed.

First Alert 6 saw three shuttles come into Nebraska Medicine at about 5:15 a.m.

What happens at UNMC

The passengers will be housed in the National Quarantine Unit. According to Nebraska Medicine, this facility is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the United States, a place to safely house and monitor those who may have been exposed to high-consequence infectious diseases.

There are 20 300-square-foot rooms fitted with negative air pressure systems that will contain any possible viruses.

According to the CDC, passengers will not be placed under quarantine upon their arrival at the UNMC-Nebraska Medicine campus. Instead, they’ll be monitored and assessed for a shorter stay, then likely go home for a self-monitoring period. The monitoring period will last 42 days.

UNMC’s interim chancellor said each passenger’s exposure varies, and their team is ready to handle whatever gets thrown their way.

“We have experts here who have been doing this for many years. We have an interdisciplinary team that’s very competent. We have all the ingredients to make sure the public is safe, which is a number one priority,” said Dr. Dele Davies, UNMC interim chancellor.

The medical experts who work at the facility train for these types of possibilities every quarter.

“This particular virus is not as contagious as others and so I think it is important that there is no alarm or no panic as a result of this emergency and that it’s not confused with other emergencies that we have experienced,” said Thomas Warren, Senior Chief of Staff.

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The outbreak in Spain

A dozen countries are getting their citizens back home while working to keep the virus contained. The first waves of passengers started flying home from Spain.

Before the flights started taking off, Spain officials stressed the public does not need to worry.

“All the passengers are asymptomatic. They have confirmed this issues that all the passengers are asymptomatic. This unprecedented operation is going as planned,” said Monica Garcia, health minister of Spain.

The World Health Organization says six confirmed cases of hantavirus and two suspected cases are linked to the outbreak on the ship.

Omaha’s history with infectious diseases

This is not the first time Omaha has been the hub for containing the first cases of a virus.

In 2014, two Ebola patients were taken to Nebraska Medicine for treatment. The biocontainment unit there is one of just a few in the country capable of taking patients who could start devastating epidemics.

Another person possibly exposed to Ebola came to the med center in 2019.

And in 2020, 13 Americans exposed to COVID-19 on a cruise ship docked in San Francisco were flown to Nebraska Medicine, some of the first Americans to be diagnosed with COVID.

Health officials want to remind the public that this disease is rare, and human to human transmission is more difficult as compared to COVID-19.

Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. sent in a statement Sunday evening:

We are confident in the quality of care that these individuals will receive along with the protocols to keep healthcare workers safe.”

“Sixteen individuals aboard a cruise ship affected by the hantavirus are coming to Omaha early Monday. All will be taken to Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus, where the National Quarantine Unit and Nebraska Biocontainment Unit are located.

City leadership has been briefed, including my chief of staff Thomas Warren, City Council President Danny Begley and Omaha Fire and Police Department officials.