OMAHA, Nebraska — The final group of eight American passengers held in a specialized quarantine unit in Nebraska has been released, bringing an end to a 42-day isolation period following a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Monday that the quarantine had officially concluded.
“Through close collaboration among federal, state, and local partners, HHS helped protect the American people, contain potential risks, and bring this response effort to a successful conclusion,” HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard stated in an email.
More than 120 people were evacuated from the MV Hondius in Spain’s Canary Islands early last month, including 18 Americans who were brought to the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha. The majority of those evacuated were from other countries.
Beyond those removed by health workers in full protective gear, at least 30 additional passengers had already departed the ship before the outbreak was officially documented — among them seven Americans who were permitted to monitor themselves for symptoms at home. When the vessel eventually arrived in the Netherlands, 25 crew members and two medical staff members on board were also required to quarantine.
The World Health Organization did not immediately respond Monday to inquiries about the status of other individuals quarantined around the world. In total, 13 cases of the virus were identified among people who had been on the ship, including the three who died.
One of the American passengers, Angela Perryman, had been held against her wishes and contrary to the recommendation of a government medical expert. Speaking from her Florida home Monday, she said passengers were informed that the quarantine monitoring period ended Sunday at 2 p.m., and she caught a flight out that same evening.
“We were locked in our rooms until 1:55. And at 2 o’clock, ‘OK, well, everybody walk out and go home,’” Perryman said.
Some passengers stayed the night in Omaha before departing Monday, but Perryman pushed to leave Sunday evening. She noted the government covered the cost of flights home.
Seven of the final eight passengers remained at the facility voluntarily, but Perryman was compelled to stay due to a controversial quarantine order that even some health officials considered unnecessary.
Perryman and seven others spent six weeks at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The 42-day monitoring window was established because hantavirus symptoms have taken up to that long to appear in previous outbreaks. None of the passengers were reported to have developed the illness.
Ten other passengers who had been at the facility were permitted to leave earlier under an agreement requiring close monitoring in their home states.
The MV Hondius, a Dutch cruise ship, was traveling through the South Atlantic when the hantavirus outbreak occurred. Three people died, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first to contract the virus after visiting South America.
Hantaviruses typically spread when people breathe in contaminated particles from rodent droppings. However, the specific strain involved in this outbreak — known as the Andes virus — may in rare instances spread from person to person, according to health officials.
About 25 Americans were aboard the ship. Roughly seven disembarked in April, while 18 remained on board. Sixteen were transported to the Nebraska quarantine unit on May 11, with two more Americans arriving a few days later.
During their stay, Omaha restaurants and food trucks delivered special meals to the passengers nearly every day. Nurses also made Starbucks runs to bring passengers their favorite drinks.
The quarantine rooms were described as resembling hotel accommodations, complete with desks, televisions, internet access, and exercise equipment to help pass the time.
Passenger Jake Rosmarin, a travel blogger, posted a video Monday morning showing him leaving his room, hauling two suitcases and a backpack, and switching off the lights on his way out. Later that day, he shared footage of the Omaha skyline from his plane window as he headed home to his fiancée in Boston.
On Sunday, Rosmarin posted an emotional video thanking the quarantine unit staff and the broader Omaha community while wearing a Nebraska Huskers sweatshirt someone had sent him.
“I want to thank the Omaha, Nebraska, community for welcoming us with open arms and showing us complete kindness and generosity. And a big thanks to all of you who have helped me get through this because I really don’t know if it would have been as easy without the support from strangers,” he said.
Perryman’s perspective was far less positive. She was forced to remain after Florida officials declined a federal request to provide around-the-clock monitoring of her if she returned home — even as travel arrangements for the passengers had reportedly been in the works for weeks.
“Nobody actually expected anybody to get sick at that point,” she said. “Everybody was well aware that we were all going home on commercial flights.”
She described the six-week quarantine as “a political stunt.”
