U.S. passengers on a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak will be monitored at a specialized quarantine center in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. health officials have said.

Health experts are racing to contain a potential spread of the virus as two suspected cases emerged on Friday (May 08) far from the outbreak that has killed three people aboard the Dutch-flagged ship MV Hondius.

Health officials will meet passengers returning to the United States and transport them on a "medical repatriation flight" to Omaha at the University of Nebraska, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

They will be monitored at the National Quarantine Unit, which, according to Nebraska Medicine’s website, is the only federally funded unit of its kind in the US. If patients there develop symptoms they can be taken to and treated at the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, which is housed at the same facility, the site says.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

B-ROLL OF THE NATIONAL QUARANTINE UNIT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER

SHOWS: OMAHA, NEBRASKA, UNITED STATES (UNDATED ARCHIVE) (UNMC/NEBRASKA MEDICINE – Must courtesy UNMC/Nebraska Medicine)

1. EXTERIOR OF THE NATIONAL QUARANTINE UNIT LOCATED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER IN THE DR. EDWIN G. & DOROTHY BALBACH DAVIS GLOBAL CENTER

2. HALLWAY IN QUARANTINE UNIT

3 VARIOUS OF ROOM WITH BED AND EXERCISE BIKE

4. CONFERENCE ROOM WITH SCREENS THAT READ (English) “ASPR / ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE”

5. PHONE SCREEN

6. VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE ROOM