Third British national linked to hantavirus outbreak on MV Hondius

A THIRD British national has been diagnosed with suspected hantavirus linked to an outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius, health officials said on Friday.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the “additional suspected case of a British national” was on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha.

Two other British nationals remain in hospital in the Netherlands and South Africa following the outbreak on the cruise ship.

“None of the British citizens onboard are currently reporting symptoms, but they are being closely monitored,” the agency said.

The ship is expected to dock in Tenerife on Sunday, and government officials will be on the ground to assist British nationals disembarking.

The Foreign Office is chartering “a dedicated repatriation flight” for British passengers and crew only.

“This flight will be free of charge,” the agency added.

British passengers will have to isolate for 45 days after returning to the UK and will be closely monitored and tested by the agency.

At least two Indian nationals are among the crew members aboard the Dutch vessel MV Hondius, which has reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.

The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Ushuaia in Argentina and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.

About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially onboard, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.

The BBC reported that among the 28 nationalities onboard were 38 people from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada and two crew members from India.

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.

A 69-year-old Dutch woman confirmed to have the virus has died. Her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.

The UN health agency said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.

Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.

Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”.

She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” onboard the MV Hondius.

Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.

The WHO said hantavirus typically spreads from rodents, but in the latest outbreak transmission between people was documented for the first time.

Meanwhile, health authorities are tracing dozens of people who recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel.

Oceanwide Expeditions said 29 passengers from at least 12 nationalities left the MV Hondius in St Helena, a British Overseas Territory.

The company also said the body of one deceased passenger, now identified as a Dutch man, was removed from the vessel.

Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.

(With inputs from agencies)