A third British national has suspected hantavirus in connection with an outbreak on board the cruise ship MV Hondius, the government has said.
The patient is currently on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where the ship stopped in mid-April.Two other British men have confirmed cases – one remains in a stable condition in the Netherlands after being evacuated from the ship on Wednesday, while the other remains in intensive care after being flown to South Africa last month.
Five cases of hantavirus have been confirmed, including one of the three passengers on the cruise who died.
The MV Hondius is expected to dock in the Canary Islands at the weekend, where the government has confirmed it will be met by a chartered plane to fly the remaining British passengers and crew on the cruise ship back to the UK.
Although none of the remaining Britons are currently displaying symptoms, they will be asked to isolate upon their return homeBritish national Martin Anstee, a 56-year-old retired police officer and an expedition guide on board the MV Hondius, was evacuated to the Netherlands on Wednesday alongside a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German.
He remains in a stable condition and told the BBC that he was “fine”.
Another British passenger, 69, has a confirmed case and was medically evacuated to South Africa at the end of April.
He remains in intensive care and has been said by officials to be “doing better”
Two other British men have confirmed cases – one remains in a stable condition in the Netherlands after being evacuated from the ship on Wednesday, while the other remains in intensive care after being flown to South Africa last month.
Five cases of hantavirus have been confirmed, including one of the three passengers on the cruise who died.
The MV Hondius is expected to dock in the Canary Islands at the weekend, where the government has confirmed it will be met by a chartered plane to fly the remaining British passengers and crew on the cruise ship back to the UK.
Although none of the remaining Britons are currently displaying symptoms, they will be asked to isolate upon their return homeBritish national Martin Anstee, a 56-year-old retired police officer and an expedition guide on board the MV Hondius, was evacuated to the Netherlands on Wednesday alongside a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German.
He remains in a stable condition and told the BBC that he was “fine”.
Another British passenger, 69, has a confirmed case and was medically evacuated to South Africa at the end of April.
He remains in intensive care and has been said by officials to be “doing better”Contact tracing is under way in several other countries for dozens of passengers who left the Dutch cruise ship before the outbreak was detected – including Switzerland and the Netherlands.
The World Health Organization (WHO) called it a “serious incident” but said the risk to the public was low, stressing the outbreak was not similar to the Covid-19 pandemic.
British people affected by hantavirus outbreak
Three Britons are confirmed or suspected to have contracted hantavirus
One of them is being treated in the Netherlands, another man is being treated in South Africa, and a third is on the remote Atlantic island of Trista da Cunha
Seven Britons disembarked the MV Hondius in St Helena on 24 April before the first confirmed case of hantavirus was reported on 4 May, with four remaining there
Two of the Britons who disembarked on 24 April have already returned to the UK and are self-isolating voluntarily but do not have symptoms
The seventh person has not yet been traced, the UKHSA has saidThe origin of the outbreak is still unknown and it is not known if people other than cruise ship passengers and crew have been infected with the disease.
WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus told a news conference that the first two cases had “travelled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip which included visits to sites where the species of rat known to carry the virus was present”.
One of the three deaths was a Dutch woman, 69, who left the MV Hondius when it stopped at St Helena on 24 April and travelled to South Africa where she died two days later.
Her husband died on board the vessel on 11 April, while a German woman also died on board. Neither are confirmed to have had the virus.
