The Trump administration chartered a private yacht for 750,000 dollars to evacuate a single American citizen from a Pacific cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak, officials confirmed.
The vessel was positioned to extract the passenger when onboard quarantine and port restrictions complicated commercial rescue options.
Hantavirus spreads through rodent droppings and can cause severe pulmonary illness in humans.
Taxpayer advocates questioned whether a less costly aircraft medevac could have achieved the same outcome.
Health agencies tracked fellow travelers for symptoms after the cruise line docked for epidemiological screening.
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Sources:
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news