Passengers from hantavirus cruise ship arrive in US; 3 people in biocontainment

In a press release in Omaha on Monday morning, federal and Nebraska officials corrected the statement of HHS, saying that the US returned 18 people – not 17 – which includes 17 US citizens and one person who is a dual British / US citizen. Riders range in age from mid 20s to late 70s – early 80s.

On the trip to Omaha, two were flown into special biocontainment units “out of an abundance of caution.” That includes one person who tested “low,” and a second person who had symptoms. Currently, the definition of symptoms is “generous,” including anything as minor as a runny nose, officials said in a press release.

Three people in US biocontainment

Of the 18 people, 15 (including two citizens) are asymptomatic and in the stable group.

The person who tested “mild positive” is being held in a Nebraska biocontainment unit. That person is said to be asymptomatic at this time. In a press release, government officials gave only vague answers to what they termed “a little better.” But, they may be referring to the cycle threshold (Ct value) of the specific PCR test used to detect hantavirus genetic fragments to confirm diagnosis. The test goes around iteratively trying to develop a specific word of the possible type. The test is often considered false if there is no clear signal after 40 cycles. But it’s not really a cut, and the subtle symptoms that appear after 35 or more can be seen as incomprehensible – either an early or late disease when a small virus is present, or simply damaged.

The remaining two passengers are a family traveling together, one of whom is a person who has previously been diagnosed with symptoms. They were transferred to the same biocontainment unit at Emory University in Atlanta. The reason is to ensure that Nebraska’s biocontainment team — which has limited capacity to isolate hantavirus cases — can keep the facility open if any of the 15 people in quarantine are infected, state officials said in a press release.