Quarantine ends for the last hantavirus-exposed passengers in Nebraska

The last eight U.S. passengers exposed to the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius have been released from quarantine in Omaha, Nebraska, ending the U.S. response to the cruise-ship incident.

The passengers completed 42 days of monitoring at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's National Quarantine Unit. AP reported that 18 American passengers were quarantined in Omaha in total, with the final group released on Monday, June 23, 2026.

The outbreak began on the Dutch expedition ship MV Hondius earlier in 2026 and prompted a multinational public-health response after authorities identified concern about Andes virus, a hantavirus strain that can spread from person to person in rare circumstances.

AP said the outbreak produced 13 confirmed cases and three deaths.

How the outbreak was handled

Passengers were evacuated and then monitored in different countries as public-health authorities tracked exposure risks. In Nebraska, the University of Nebraska Medical Center became the main U.S. quarantine site for Americans who had been on the ship.

One of the passengers, Jake Rosmarin, was profiled in later coverage by People, which said he completed quarantine at UNMC on June 23 after sharing updates during isolation.

News.com.au reported that passengers quarantined near Perth in Australia also completed their own 42-day monitoring period and were cleared by authorities, showing that the response was winding down across multiple countries.

What happens next

No immediate new restrictions or follow-up measures were reported for the Nebraska passengers. With the final U.S. travelers released, the focus now appears to shift from active quarantine to post-response review of the outbreak and its public-health handling.

The World Health Organization and the CDC both issued early statements about the cruise-ship-linked cluster in May, helping frame the outbreak as a rare but serious event requiring close monitoring.