Here’s What’s Happening With The Quarantined Hantavirus Cruise Passengers

BreakingBusinessHere’s What’s Happening With The Quarantined Hantavirus Cruise PassengersByMary Whitfill Roeloffs,Forbes Staff. Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes breaking news reporter covering pop culture.Follow AuthorMay 11, 2026, 12:07pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ToplineMore than a dozen asymptomatic passengers from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship will remain in isolation in Nebraska's National Quarantine Unit for at least the next few days, where officials say they are in "good shape" and called the facility "more like a hotel than patient care space.” (See live hantavirus cruise updates here). Dr. Angela Hewlett, medical director of Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, on May 11, 2026.Getty ImagesKey FactsEighteen people ranging in age from late 20s to early 80s were flown via State Department plane from the Canary Islands to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, home to the country’s only federally funded quarantine facility, Sunday night. One of those patients, who has been described as “mildly positive” is in the facility’s biocontainment unit and two others, one who is showing mild symptoms, have since been transferred to Atlanta for care and monitoring at Emory University. The 15 others are in "good spirits" in the National Quarantine Unit, the facility's medical director Michael Wadman said Monday, and will undergo health assessments for the next several days before being assigned individual monitoring plans they’ll need to follow for several weeks. Those plans will determine if patients can isolate at home or if they need to stay at the Nebraska facility for the entirety of the 42-day hantavirus incubation period, Dr. Brendan Jackson of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said, which will depend on each person’s living situation, health status and access to high-level medical care. Jackson said passengers are welcome to s...