Kalitta Air Cargo Jet Transports Hantavirus-Positive Passenger From Cruise Ship

A U.S. government-chartered Boeing 747 freighter, operated by Michigan-based cargo airline Kalitta Air, has transported 17 American citizens and one British national who resides in the United States from Tenerife, Spain, to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, following their evacuation from the MV Hondius — a Dutch expedition cruise ship at the centre of a deadly Andes hantavirus outbreak.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed late on Sunday, May 11, 2026, that one of the American passengers has tested mildly positive for the Andes virus via PCR test, and that a second passenger is displaying symptoms consistent with infection. Both were transported within sealed biocontainment units installed aboard the aircraft for the repatriation mission.

The outbreak has claimed three lives since it was first identified in early April 2026, when the MV Hondius was sailing through the South Atlantic following its departure from Ushuaia, Argentina. The Andes virus, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed as the causative strain, is the only known hantavirus documented to spread between humans and carries a case fatality rate estimated at approximately 35–50% for its most severe form — hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS).

The CDC has classified the outbreak as a Level 3 emergency response, while the WHO has sought to temper public alarm, with Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressing that the pathogen is “not another Covid-19” and that the risk to the general public remains low.

A Kalitta Air 747 Freighter Configured for Biocontainment

The aircraft selected by the U.S. government for this sensitive humanitarian airlift is a 20-year-old Boeing 747 freighter belonging to Kalitta Air, a Ypsilanti, Michigan-based cargo carrier known primarily for charter and commercial freight operations.

As reported by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, the aircraft arrived in Tenerife on May 10, just hours after the MV Hondius moored at the port of Granadilla de Abona in the Canary Islands for its long-anticipated international evacuation operation.

The HHS, in a statement issued during the flight, confirmed that two passengers were “travelling in the plane’s biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution,” describing their conditions as follows: “One passenger currently has mild symptoms and another passenger tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus.” The aircraft landed at Offutt Air Force Base at approximately 3:30 a.m. local time on Monday, May 11.

American Almanac reported that upon arrival, one passenger was immediately transferred to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit after testing positive without showing symptoms, while two others — a passenger and a close contact — were separately transported to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, where they are being treated at its Serious Communicable Diseases Unit.

Travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, who was among the passengers aboard the repatriation flight, posted a photograph from his quarantine room at the University of Nebraska Medical Center shortly after landing. NBC News reported that Rosmarin wrote:

“The repatriation flight was smooth, and I safely made it to the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha. It’s been a very long few days, but hopefully I can start giving more updates again soon.”

His photograph showed a furnished room with a desk, a spin bike, and a smart television — the standard amenities of the National Quarantine Unit, which functions, according to the medical centre’s own doctors, closer to a specialized hotel room than a clinical ward.

The American Passengers Are Now at Nebraska and Atlanta Facilities

The 18 American-bound evacuees have been distributed across two specialist facilities. According to reporting by CNN, 16 of the passengers are now being monitored at the Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, while two individuals — including one symptomatic person — are at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

As of Monday, all 16 in Nebraska are reported as asymptomatic, and symptoms are being assessed twice daily by the UNMC medical team. Dr. H. Dele Davis, the interim chancellor of UNMC, told CNN that upon arrival, passengers would be checked for early-stage symptoms including fever, muscle aches, and diarrhoea.

Dr. Michael Wadman, director of the National Quarantine Unit, said at a Monday press briefing that there is no agreed standard for how frequently asymptomatic individuals should be tested, and that individual physicians would direct testing decisions on a case-by-case basis.

NBC News quoted DHS Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Brian Christine as stating:

“Let me be crystal clear — the risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low. The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged close contact with someone who is already symptomatic.”

Nine additional Americans with possible exposure had already returned to their home states independently, prior to the formal repatriation operation. Their monitoring is being conducted through state and local health departments, following guidance distributed by the CDC to public health departments and clinicians nationwide.