Two British evacuees from hantavirus-infected cruise ship showing improvement in hospital

Two British nationals who were medically evacuated from the hantavirus-infected MV Hondius cruise ship are showing signs of recovery, according to global health officials. One British passenger, believed to be a 69-year-old man, was taken to South Africa on 27 April and is being treated at a private medical facility in Sandton, Johannesburg. Another Briton, Martin Anstee, 56, an expedition guide, was removed from the ship on Wednesday and flown to the Netherlands for specialist medical care.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization (WHO) said the two patients – including one Briton – remain hospitalized in the Netherlands, and another Briton is in intensive care in South Africa. She told a WHO press briefing: “I’m happy to say that the patient in South Africa is doing better, and the two patients in the Netherlands are reported to be stable. That is really very good news.”

As of Thursday, there were eight suspected cases, of which five have been confirmed positive for hantavirus through testing – a rare family of viruses spread by rodents. The outbreak, linked to three deaths, is connected to a birdwatching trip to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay that two passengers took before boarding the ship.

Spanish authorities have allowed the ship to dock in the Canary Islands, despite concerns from local residents and officials. The ship left the coast of Cape Verde at 3:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday, according to tour operator Oceanwide Expeditions. It is expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife early Sunday morning.

Morale on board has improved since the ship began its journey to Tenerife, WHO said. Two doctors are aboard along with infectious disease specialists from WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, who are conducting medical assessments for everyone on the ship.

Although the risk to the public is low, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that more cases may emerge due to the incubation period of the Andes virus – the hantavirus variant linked to the outbreak – which can be up to six weeks. He said: “While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low.”

WHO does not expect the outbreak to become an epidemic, according to Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, director of alert and response coordination. He noted a similar outbreak in Argentina in 2018–19 resulted in 34 cases.

Seven Britons were among 30 people from 12 countries who left the ship when it docked at the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, including a Dutch woman who fell ill on a subsequent flight and died. The woman was traveling with the body of her husband, who died on the ship on 11 April. A woman in Amsterdam, reported to be a flight attendant who had contact with the deceased woman, has presented with potential symptoms.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has been asked whether it can confirm it has contacted all seven Britons who left the ship on 24 April. Earlier, the agency said two Britons who had returned from the ship were self-isolating at home and were asymptomatic. Contact tracing is underway for anyone who may have sat next to them on their flight home.

19 British nationals are listed as passengers on the MV Hondius, which is traveling from Argentina to Cape Verde, along with four British crew members. UK health experts said British passengers on the ship will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for 45 days. Professor Robin May, scientific director at UKHSA, said: “For the general public, not directly associated with this cruise ship, the risk here is really negligible.”

The UK Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight so that the remaining asymptomatic Britons on the ship can be repatriated after they dock in Tenerife in the coming days. According to UKHSA, no British nationals on board have reported symptoms, but they are being closely monitored.