Passengers from hantavirus ship arrive in US; 3 people in biocontainment

In a press briefing in Omaha on Monday morning, federal and Nebraska officials corrected the HHS statement, saying that the US has repatriated 18—not 17—people, which includes 17 US citizens and one person who is a dual British/US citizen. The passengers range in age from late 20s to late 70s–early 80s. On the flight to Omaha, two were flown in special biocontainment units “out of an abundance of caution.” That includes the one person who tested “mildly positive,” and a second person who had symptoms. For now, the definition of symptoms is “liberal,” including anything as minor as nasal congestion, officials said in the press briefing. Three people in US biocontainment Of the 18 people, 15 (including the dual citizen) are asymptomatic and in the quarantine unit. The person with the “mildly positive” test is being housed in the Nebraska biocontainment unit. That person is said to be asymptomatic for now. In the press briefing, officials offered only vague answers as to what they meant by “mildly positive.” But, they are likely referring to the cycle threshold (Ct value) for the real-time PCR test used to detect snippets of hantavirus genetic material to confirm an infection. The test does repeated cycles to try to amplify specific snippets of genetic material that may be present. A test is generally considered negative if there’s no clear signal after 40 cycles. …