The U.S. has entered emergency response mode asa cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreaksails toward Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, where it will evacuate nearly 150 passengers on board, including at least 17 Americans.

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State and local health officials in the U.S. are monitoring at least eight passengers who disembarked on April 24 and returned home. For the time being, those individuals are not being told to isolate, since they have not developed symptoms.

As early as Sunday, global health authorities will help transport passengers still on board the ship — all of whom are currently asymptomatic — to their respective home countries. Passengers will be taken to a “completely isolated, cordoned-off” area in Tenerife, then board guarded vehicles to transport them to a section of the local airport that will also be cordoned off, Virginia Barcones, Spain’s head of emergency services, said Thursday at a press conference.

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionsaid Friday in a statementthat it is sending a team of epidemiologists and medical professionals to the Canary Islands to meet the Americans on board, who will fly to Nebraska upon arrival.

“Because the disease status of the exposed passengers is unknown and responders will be in close contact with potentially symptomatic individuals, it makes sense for emergency responders to don gloves (rubber or latex), a respirator mask like an n95, a protective gown, and eye protection,” a CDC epidemiologist who did not speak on behalf of the agency said in a text message.

The flight will land at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. The repatriated passengers will then be transported to the National Quarantine Unit at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. It’s unknown how long the quarantine will last.

“We are prepared for situations exactly like this,” Dr. Michael Ash, chief executive officer of Nebraska Medicine, said in a statement released Friday. “Our teams have trained for decades alongside federal and state partners to make sure we can safely provide care while protecting our staff and the broader community.”

Dr. Michael Wadman, the medical director for the National Quarantine Unit, said there are 20 available spaces in the quarantine unit and each individual will have their own room and get food delivered to them. The passengers will have their vital signs monitored daily and have access to a team of health care workers, including infectious disease specialists and critical care physicians.

“Each of the rooms looks very much like a hotel room, with the addition of availability of Wi-Fi, of exercise equipment. If the quarantine is prolonged, those would be important in terms of making sure they’re comfortable,” Wadman said at a press conference on Friday evening.

Source: Drudge Report