Third British National Suspected of Hantavirus in MV Hondius Cruise Outbreak

A third British national has suspected hantavirus tied to an outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius, the government said.

The patient is 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 stable condition in the Netherlands after evacuation from the ship on Wednesday. The other stays in intensive care after a flight to South Africa last month.

Five hantavirus cases have been confirmed overall, including one of three passengers on the cruise who died.

The MV Hondius is due to dock in the Canary Islands at the weekend. A chartered plane will meet it there to fly remaining British passengers and crew back to the UK, the government confirmed.

None of the remaining Britons show symptoms now, but they will isolate upon return home.

British national Martin Anstee, a 56-year-old retired police officer and expedition guide on the MV Hondius, was evacuated to the Netherlands on Wednesday with a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German. He remains stable and told the BBC he was "fine".

Another British passenger, aged 69, has a confirmed case and was medically evacuated to South Africa at the end of April. He remains in intensive care but officials say he is "doing better".

Two other British nationals are self-isolating at home in the UK after potential exposure. They volunteered to do so and have no symptoms.

They were among 30 people from a dozen nations, including seven Britons, who left the ship at St Helena in the south Atlantic on April 24, according to operator Oceanwide Expeditions.

The operator said the first confirmed hantavirus case was not reported until May 4. All guests who disembarked have been contacted.

Four Britons who left at St Helena remain there. They have no symptoms but are in touch with health officials. Medical staff will go to the islands for support.

A UK health official said British passengers from the MV Hondius will likely self-isolate for 45 days on return.

Contact tracing continues in several countries for dozens of passengers who left the Dutch cruise ship before the outbreak surfaced, including in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

The World Health Organization called it a "serious incident" but said public risk is low. It stressed the outbreak differs from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Three deaths are linked to the cruise. One was a 69-year-old Dutch woman who left at St Helena on April 24, went to South Africa and died two days later. Her husband died on board April 11, and a German woman also died on board. Neither is confirmed to have had the virus.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference that the first two cases involved a bird-watching trip through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay to sites with rats known to carry the virus.

The outbreak origin remains unknown. No infections outside passengers and crew are known.

Hantavirus spreads from rodents like mice and rats. Experts think it passed between humans in close contact here. Symptoms include fever, extreme fatigue, stomach pain, vomiting and shortness of breath, appearing two to four weeks after exposure.

The UK Health Security Agency said the virus does not spread through everyday contact like public spaces. Rare person-to-person cases involved "close and prolonged" contact.