Two people who returned independently to the UK from the cruise ship that was hit by a hantavirus outbreak have been told to self-isolate
Two people who returned independently to the UK from a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak have been instructed to self-isolate. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued the guidance while stating that “the risk to the general public remains very low.”
The Government is “working urgently” to support British nationals caught up in the outbreak, which is linked to three deaths. A total of 19 British passengers and four British crew members were listed on the vessel as it sailed from Argentina toward Cape Verde.
Two Britons—one passenger and one crew member—are among those who have fallen ill during the suspected outbreak. Investigators have traced the source of the infection to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina, which two passengers attended before boarding the ship.
The crew member, understood to be a doctor on the ship, along with a Dutch crew member and another passenger were taken from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius on Wednesday for onward travel to the Netherlands, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
Spanish health officials said the British medic is now in a more “stable condition” after previously being in a “critical condition”.
The Associated Press reported that a medical evacuation flight arrived at Amsterdam’s airport on Wednesday evening.
The passenger was medically evacuated from the ship on April 27 and taken to Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Foreign Office said that it was “working urgently” to help get Britons “safely home with proper protection for public health”.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The outbreak of hantavirus is very serious and deeply stressful for those affected and their families.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting added: “The outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius will be worrying many.
“The Government are taking this incredibly seriously and are working urgently to support the British nationals involved.
“We are working across DHSC, UKHSA and the FCDO to ensure all those affected get home safely.”
The evacuation means the ship can now continue on its three-day journey to the Canary Islands after Spanish authorities gave permission for the boat to dock.
But a row erupted after the president of the Canary Islands expressed concern over the ship docking in Tenerife.
In an update posted online, Spanish health authorities said that the ship is expected to arrive within 72 to 96 hours.
Officials said that passengers will be disembarked in a “controlled” way with “direct transfer from the port to the airport and subsequent return to their countries of origin, avoiding at all times transit through spaces open to the general population”.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that everyone on board should be considered as a “close contact”.
A Threat Assessment Brief posed by the European health agency states: “We consider everyone on the ship to be close contacts, due to the closed setting and shared social areas and activities, aligned with the precautionary principle.”
But it said that the strain of the virus “does not transmit easily so it is unlikely that it would cause many cases or a widespread outbreak in the community, if infection prevention and control measures are applied”.
The technical brief says people with symptoms should be medically evacuated while passengers without symptoms should receive a test when they disembark. However, it points out that a negative test “may not exclude infection”.
“Disembarking passengers should be provided with clear instructions and recommendations until their diagnosis is confirmed or ruled out,” it adds.
The Associated Press reported the Argentine government’s hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus during a birdwatching outing in the city of Ushuaia before boarding.
Two Argentine officials told the news agency that the couple visited a landfill during the birdwatching tour where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection.
The ship has been anchored off Cape Verde. Passengers are confined to their cabins while “disinfection and other public health measures are carried out”, the WHO said on Tuesday.
It is understood that none of the remaining passengers on board have symptoms and two extra medics have been flown in to assist.
The WHO said there are eight cases, three of which are confirmed, after a passenger on the boat presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and was confirmed to have the virus.
Health officials in South Africa are looking for people who had possible contact with one of the suspected cases.
The South African Health Ministry said officials have traced 42 out of 62 people they believe had contact with the two infected passengers who travelled there, the Associated Press reported.
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