By admin 
(Gray News) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to reassure the public Monday, saying the public health threat from hantavirus is low.
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Kennedy added that he is “not worried about it.”
“We’ve had CDC teams on it from day one. I was speaking with the University of Nebraska since the second day of the outbreak. I was speaking with Governor Pillen of Nebraska. We had a CDC team at Tenerife,” Kennedy said. “We have this under control, and we’re not worried about it.”
Health authorities said hantavirus is not like COVID-19 and people should not worry that it will lead to another pandemic.
The public concern comes as 17 Americans who were on the cruise ship MV Hondius, stricken by hantavirus, arrived in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday.
Health officials said one of the Americans has tested positive for the virus but is not showing symptoms. Another American is showing mild symptoms.
The cruise ship anchored off Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday. About 150 people were on board the ship when it arrived.
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The passengers wore blue protective clothing and masks as they first boarded smaller boats to take them from the cruise ship to shore.
Passengers from the ship then began flying home aboard military and government planes.
Once they arrived in Nebraska, the passengers were transported to a specialized quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Two people were later transferred to Emory University in Atlanta, with one of them experiencing symptoms.
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Three people died on the cruise ship after contracting hantavirus.