Cartersville, GA
May 14, 2026
Phoenix Air Group, Inc., headquartered at the Cartersville-Bartow County Airport in Cartersville, GA this week partnered with the U.S. Department of State and Kalitta Air to support the successful repatriation of American citizens from the cruise ship M/V Hondius.
Utilizing a Kalitta Air Boeing 747 aircraft equipped with specialized biocontainment modules, Phoenix Air provided critical medical monitoring and transit for passengers throughout the multistage mission from the Canary Islands off the West Africa coast to Omaha, NE, then Atlanta, GA.
A joint medical team—including specialists from Phoenix Air, the Department of State, and the Department of Health and Human Services—ensured the highest standards of safety and care during the flight home to the United States.
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On May 2, 2026, the World Health Organization was notified about a cluster of severe acute respiratory illness, including two deaths and one critically ill passenger, aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius. The cruise ship remained stranded off the coast of West Africa following the death of 3 people and several others who were very sick. About 150 people were on the ship
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said as of Thursday, there are no hantavirus cases in the country. Forty-one people are being closely monitored for the virus.
The agency said the risk to the public remains low.
According to the CDC, Hantavirus is a severe, often fatal family of viruses spread primarily by wild rodents. People typically catch it by breathing in airborne particles of contaminated rodent urine, droppings, or saliva.