Why Americans from the hantavirus-stricken ship were taken to Omaha

When Americans who were on the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak arrived back in the United States Monday, most of them were brought to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which has multiple specialized facilities to monitor and treat people exposed to infectious diseases. Fifteen people who were on the cruise are at the National Quarantine Unit on the university's campus in Omaha, Nebraska, officials said Monday. The quarantine unit is the only federally funded facility of its kind and was first used in the early months of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. "There is no place in the country that they could be better cared for more safely and more effectively," Dr. Jeffrey Gold, president of the University of Nebraska, said Monday. Also at the medical center is the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, which is used if people in the quarantine unit develop symptoms and need treatment. One of the passengers from the ship was taken there and is doing well, officials said. Two others from the ship were taken to a biocontainment facility at Emory University in Atlanta. Here's what to know about the National Quarantine Unit and Nebraska Biocontainment Unit: Quarantine unit "more like a hotel" The quarantine unit is "designed for well individuals who need to be monitored," Angela Hewlett, the medical director of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, said Monday. There are 20 single-occupancy rooms in the facility. …