Hantavirus live updates: CDC team will bring American cruise ship passengers 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.

Here's what you need to know about hantavirus including what it is, how it spreads, how it's treated and if there are any prevention methods:

What is hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death, according to the CDC.

How does hantavirus spread?

Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.

Read more about hantavirus here.

The University of Nebraska, which hosts the quarantine facility the American cruise ship passengers are set to travel to, said the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine are "in close coordination with national partners" regarding the hantavirus cluster onboard the M/V Hondius.

"We cannot discuss specific communications at this time, but, our specialized teams, including the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit and National Quarantine Unit, are staffed and ready, if needed, to safely provide care while protecting our staff and the community," the statement read.

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.