The United States is organising a repatriation flight for American passengers aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship affected by hantavirus that sailed to Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands. A State Department spokesperson confirmed the evacuation effort, stating that coordination is underway with the Spanish government and other US federal agencies. Officials are in direct contact with Americans on board and are ready to offer consular support upon arrival in Tenerife on Sunday. The ship operator reported 17 American passengers on the vessel. The State Department did not provide its own count. Three people have died from the illness — a Dutch couple and a German woman — while others have fallen sick. The strain identified is the Andes virus, the only hantavirus variant known to spread between humans, raising global concern. The ship left the British island of Saint Helena on April 24, according to the World Health Organization. The US CDC said the American evacuees will be flown to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, before being transferred to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Nebraska Medicine and the medical center confirmed the passengers currently show no symptoms. "At this time, the risk to the American public remains extremely low," the CDC stated. The quarantine facility is federally funded and equipped to handle infectious disease cases.