Two British nationals who left the MV Hondius before the hantavirus outbreak was detected are already self-isolating at home, according to health officials. Neither is reporting symptoms, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
British passengers still onboard the cruise ship, which has been hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for 45 days, a health official has suggested. A British crew member was medically evacuated from the ship and flown to the Netherlands for specialist care.
The Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight for remaining Britons onboard who are not displaying symptoms, so they can be repatriated once the ship docks in Tenerife in the coming days. Three people on the MV Hondius have died since 11 April, and as of Thursday there have been eight suspected cases, three confirmed as hantavirus by lab testing, according to the World Health Organization.
“It’s important to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains very low,” said Dr Meera Chand, deputy director for epidemic and emerging infections at the UKHSA. “We are standing up arrangements to support, isolate and monitor British nationals from the ship on their return to the UK.”
It is understood 19 British nationals were listed among the 150 passengers on the cruise, with four British crew members. The outbreak has been linked to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina joined by two passengers before they boarded the ship. Officials in Argentina are scrambling to determine if the country was the source of the outbreak.
The UKHSA has said that once the ship docks in Tenerife, the remaining British nationals can be repatriated if they do not develop symptoms. None of the British nationals onboard were reporting symptoms, but they were being closely monitored. Spain’s health minister said on Wednesday that none of the passengers still onboard were presenting symptoms and that they would be repatriated to their countries.
