Hantavirus live updates: CDC will bring Americans back to quarantine unit

Several American passengers from the cruise ship associated with a suspected hantavirus cluster are set to arrive at a quarantine unit in Nebraska over the next few days. Here's what to know about the facility.

The National Quarantine Unit, managed by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S.

Its 20 single-occupancy rooms with en-suite bathrooms contain individual negative air pressure systems to safely house individuals exposed to highly hazardous communicable diseases, according to Nebraska Medicine and UNMC.

The rooms also contain exercise equipment and WiFi connectivity for patients requiring longer stays.

Nebraska Medicine and UNMC also manage the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU), which provides medical care to patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases.

“Unit personnel consists of a voluntary staff of select physicians, nursing, nursing assistants and respiratory therapists specially trained in high-level isolation and bio preparedness,” Nebraska Medicine and UNMC said on its website.

The NBU was activated in 2014 to care for U.S. citizens affected by the Ebola outbreak and medically evacuated from Africa and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to care for U.S. citizens from Wuhan, China, and the Diamond Princess Cruise ship.

The University of Nebraska, which hosts the quarantine facility the American cruise ship passengers are set to travel to, said Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) are coordinating with partners to receive the U.S. citizens.

The university said the National Quarantine Unit is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S.

"We are prepared for situations exactly like this," Dr. Michael Ash, CEO of Nebraska Medicine, said in a statement. "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. We are proud to support this national effort."

Nebraska Medical Center also houses the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, a highly specialized facility meant to care for patients with "high-consequence infectious diseases," the university said.

Nebraska Medicine and UNMC treated patients during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and cared for some of the first Americans diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020.

"We understand situations like this can raise questions," Ash said. "People should know these facilities were specifically designed to prevent exposure to the public. There is no risk to the community from people being cared for in these units."

In a statement released earlier on Thursday, the University of Nebraska said both units "are staffed and ready, if needed, to safely provide care while protecting our staff and the community."

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud

Anais Legand, the technical officer with the World Health Organization, briefed the press Friday about the organization's efforts to screen the M/V Hondius' crew and passengers after the ship arrives in the Canary Islands.

Health teams will work with national authorities and each boat member will be assessed by trained medical staff, he said.

Epidemiologists will review individual exposure histories and interactions, according to Legand.

"So this is a way for us to get all the pieces together and have the maximum information to be able to assess any risk for this person and give them the right recommendation," he said.

-ABC News' Othon Leyva

An official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed to ABC News that the agency will be dispatching personnel to the Canary Islands, where the M/V Hondius -- the cruise ship at the center of a suspected hantavirus cluster -- is scheduled to arrive on Sunday.

Teams will then escort those Americans to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska.

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud