WASHINGTON, May 9 — The United States said yesterday it was organizing an evacuation flight for Americans on a hantavirus-struck cruise ship that has sailed to the Canary Islands, which are part of Spain.

“The Department of State is arranging a repatriation flight to support the safe return of American passengers on this ship,” a State Department spokesperson said.

The State Department said it was coordinating with the Spanish government as well as other US federal agencies.

“We are in direct communication with Americans on board and are prepared to provide consular assistance as soon as the ship arrives in Tenerife, Spain,” the spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.

The ship operator earlier said that 17 Americans were onboard. The State Department did not immediately give a number of US passengers.

Three passengers from the MV Hondius—a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman—have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.

The only hantavirus strain that can transmit from person to person—Andes virus—has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fueling international concern.

The ship is due in Tenerife on Sunday.

The flight will then take the American cruise passengers to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, and then on to a national quarantine facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

“At this time, the risk to the American public remains extremely low,” the CDC said.

Nebraska Medicine, a health care network, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center said that the US citizens will be cared for in the federally funded National Quarantine Unit.

“At this time, the individuals being monitored are well with no symptoms of illness,” they said in a statement.

The World Health Organization has said that the United States is among 12 countries with nationals who have already left the ship, on the remote British island of Saint Helena on April 24. — AFP