GEOFF BENNETT: The ship at the epicenter of the hantavirus outbreak has been evacuated on Spain's Canary Islands; 16 Americans have now been transported to a specialized quarantine unit in Omaha, Nebraska.

Two are at a similar unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Health officials confirmed that one American and one French national aboard the ship have tested positive for the virus and another U.S.

passenger is showing mild symptoms.

So far, the virus has claimed the lives of three people, including a Dutch couple and a German citizen.

Our William Brangham gets answers now to the latest questions.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Geoff, 16 Americans will remain under observation for up to six weeks at a special medical facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center that has a biocontainment unit.

U.S.

health officials today explained why this location was chosen.

JOHN KNOX, Principal Deputy U.S.

HHS Assistant Secretary: It is designed to house a large group of patients or passengers from a plane or a ship like what we have now, to monitor and assess them.

If they get symptomatic, become sick, they can be moved into the biocontainment system and have a higher level of care.

Right now, they're just being monitored and assessed.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Six U.S.

states are now monitoring residents connected to the cruise ship, as other evacuated passengers return to their homes.

So, to learn more about this virus and what we can expect, we are joined again by Dr.

Ashish Jha.

He's with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School and previously was the White House COVID-19 response coordinator during the Biden administration.

Dr.

Jha, always great to have you back.

With regards to this, international and American health officials keep telling us that the risk to the public remains very low.

But we did see with this particular strain of this virus that it was spreading from human to human.

And there are some reports that it may not even take close contact with an infected person to get infected yourself.

So, given all of that, how worried should people be about this circumstance?

DR.

ASHISH JHA, Former White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator: Yes, so William, first of all, thanks for having me back.

Look, first and foremost, I think it's important to understand this is not COVID.

No matter how this virus plays out, its transmissibility is going to be very different than COVID.

I don't see a large global pandemic coming out of this.

That said, I think there are a couple of other important points.

One is this is not a virus we know a ton about.

Yes, it's been around for a long time, but the Andes strain that is causing this outbreak has only had outbreaks a few times.

So we're still learning a lot about this virus.

There is evidence, as you suggested, that it is potentially a little easier to spread than has been traditionally taught in the textbooks.

And, right now, we have to pay very close attention to that and do everything we can to bring this outbreak under control so it doesn't become a bigger problem.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So these Americans are now being transported to this center in Nebraska.

Does that seem like an appropriate move to you?

DR.

ASHISH JHA: Yes.

UNMC University of Nebraska Medical Center, is one of the best places in the country, I would argue the world, for this kind of work.

It was designed for it.

So I think that is an excellent place for these individuals to be.

I think the next big question is, will they stay there for the entire quarantine period?

I have heard reports that some of them might be allowed to go home.

I think that would not be a good idea.

As long as they can stay at UNMC for their entire quarantine period, I think that would be a very smart and prudent move.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, given what you were saying before about what we do and do not know about how this virus is transmitting, is there any concern that other people who got off the ship earlier or were evacuated and are now going home might be carrying hantavirus unknowingly?

DR.

ASHISH JHA: Yes, this virus has a long incubation period, up to eight weeks.

That's why I believe that even those individuals who got off the ship earlier and went home, they should be quarantined as well, at least for that six-to-eight-week period after their last exposure.

Look, it just takes one person getting sick and spreading it to a whole bunch of other people for this to become a much bigger problem.

So far, no one has gotten sick who was not on the ship.

I'd like to keep it that way.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, as you well know, U.S.

officials were not initially involved in this response.

The U.S.

has also pulled out of the World Health Organization.

The CDC is now involved, and an official from HHS today was asked about this, and here's how they described the CDC's response.

ADM.

BRIAN CHRISTINE, U.S.

Assistant Secretary for Health: The CDC rapidly activated its emergency operations center.

It deployed medical teams to assess passengers and coordinated closely with international partners.

They have notified state health departments.

They have initiated monitoring of potentially exposed individuals, and they have issued clinical guidance through the Health Alert Network.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Are you satisfied with how U.S.

officials have handled this thus far?

DR.

ASHISH JHA: I think the honest answer is, they have been slow.

They have been slow off their feet in terms of doing those things, the things that were laid out.

They have started doing them, but they should have done much earlier.

The communication out of HHS has been also very slow and I think unclear.

The engagement with the global community, with WHO has been far less than what it would be under normal circumstances.

Look, I think we all hope it still works out just fine, but if this ends up becoming a bigger outbreak, I think those are places we're going to look to see what went wrong.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This outbreak took off on a cruise ship.

We have seen lots of outbreaks, mostly norovirus, breaking out on cruise ships.

Does this in your mind change any way that we ought to be monitoring or dealing with those very self-contained floating potential incubators?

DR.

ASHISH JHA: Yes, so I would remind people most cruises still are safe.

There are special issues with cruises and other kinds of gatherings like that.

That's why there was an entire unit at the CDC designed to study and respond to outbreaks on cruise ships in similar situations.

That -- by the way, that unit was eliminated last year by HHS, by Secretary Kennedy as part of the DOGE cuts, which I thought was poorly timed.

I think we can make cruising even safer.

I don't think we need to get rid of the cruising industry altogether, but, obviously, there's an elevated risk that needs to be managed effectively.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So there is no vaccine against hantavirus.

For people who do -- either at that Nebraska center or elsewhere, if they do develop symptoms and a serious infection, what treatments are available to them?

DR.

ASHISH JHA: Yes, right now, we only have what is called supportive treatment, which is nothing specific against the virus, just helping their own body get through it, whether that's oxygen support, fluid support, managing complications, obviously not the ideal way to do this.

The good news is, that Nebraska center is one of the best places in the country for it.

So, again, if you're going to get sick from hantavirus anywhere, that's the place.

But, that said, it's a reminder that we need to be investing more in therapies and vaccines against deadly viruses like this.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Dr.

Ashish Jha of Harvard's Belfer Center, as always, thank you so much for being here.

DR.

ASHISH JHA: Thanks for having me back, William.