US and French Nationals Test Negative for Hantavirus after Leaving Ship1 Hour AgoJaroslav LukivReutersAn American and a French national who returned home from a cruise ship where three passengers, a Dutch woman and two Germans, died. US Department of Health and Human Services said early Monday morning that all 17 US passengers on the flight will “undergo a clinical assessment” in a Nebraska medical facility. Seven US citizens are already back in their states of residence and being monitored. The 17 American passengers were evacuated along with a British citizen who lives in the US. The acting director of US Centers for Disease Control is Dr Jay Bhattacharya. He did not want to create panic, and said that human-to-human transmission was rare. The virus is spreading. Two other British citizens have been diagnosed and are receiving treatment in South Africa and Netherlands. Spain has imposed mandatory quarantine on 14 Spanish nationals who flew to Madrid. On Monday afternoon, two more evacuation flights are scheduled. On Sunday, a separate flight with 26 passengers, crew and eight Dutch nationals arrived in the Netherlands. Six passengers are flying back to Australia, while 18 more will fly to The two planes will take passengers from countries who did not send repatriation flights. Ukraine stated that four of its citizens would remain aboard the MV Hondius in order to ensure that the ship is transferred to. The Foreign Ministry said they would be quarantined upon arrival at a medical facility. A second Ukrainian was to leave the ship in order to participate in the partial evacuation of crew to the Netherlands. The symptoms had been present for some time, but no tests have been performed. His wife, who was 69 years old, flew from St Helena to South Africa. A German woman had died on a cruise ship back in May. She died two days later in a Johannesburg hospital. Both women have confirmed cases. The MV Hondius, which left Argentina’s southern town of Ushuaia back in April, is now docked at Grandilla in southern Tenerife.
