Hantavirus cruise ship latest: Foreign Office warns British travellers virus is health concern in Argentina – UK Times

Countries worldwide sought to prevent further spread of the hantavirus on Thursday, after an outbreak on a cruise ship, by tracking those who had disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since.

Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius. In total, five ⁠people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another three suspected cases, the World Health Organisation said.

Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person.

All passengers who disembarked in St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the ship made a stop on April 24, have been contacted, the ship’s operator said. This included people from at least 12 countries, among them seven British citizens and six from the US.

The first confirmed case of hantavirus in this outbreak came in early May.

Two Britons who were medically evacuated from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship are improving, global health officials have said.

A British passenger, understood to be a 69-year-old man, was taken to South Africa on April 27 and is receiving care at a private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg.

Another Briton, Martin Anstee, 56, was taken off the MV Hondius on Wednesday and flown to the Netherlands to receive specialist medical care.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, from the World Health Organisation (WHO), said two patients – known to include a Briton – remain in hospital in the Netherlands, and another Briton is in intensive care in South Africa.

An infection can rapidly progress and become life-threatening. Experts say it can start with symptoms including fever, chills, muscle aches and maybe a headache — much like the flu.

Symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome usually show between one and eight weeks after contact with an infected rodent. As the infection progresses, patients might experience tightness in the chest, as the lungs fill with fluid.

The other syndrome caused by hantavirus — known as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which can cause bleeding, high fever, and kidney failure — usually develops within a week or two after exposure.

The sight of people in hazmat suits alongside phrases like ‘self-isolation’ dominating the airwaves is bringing back troubling memories for Katie Rosseinsky, who considers whether we should all start stocking up on toilet roll.

Four British nationals remain in British overseas territory St Helena after disembarking the MV Hondius cruise at the tiny island in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Seven British people got off the vessel there last month, before the hantavirus outbreak was announced, and two have returned to the UK to isolate.

Four remain, where their contact is being managed, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have contacted the seventh person, who is not in the UK.

A UKHSA spokesperson told The Independent: “We are aware of seven British Nationals who disembarked the ship at St Helena on 24 April.

“Two of these individuals are now self-isolating in the UK while the others have not yet returned.

“Four of these individuals remain in St Helena and we are in touch with the relevant health officials to provide advice on contact management.

“The seventh individual has also been contacted and is not currently in the UK.”

On Wednesday, the UKHSA said the remaining British nationals on board can now be repatriated once the ship docks at its next destination if they do not develop symptoms. None of the British citizens onboard are currently reporting symptoms but they are being closely monitored.

Global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because the germ does not easily spread between people.

“This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization. “Most people will never be exposed to this.”

The virus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings. Hantaviruses have been around for centuries and are thought to exist around the world.

The ⁠WHO repeated that the risk to the general public was “low” even if the Andean strain of the virus, found in several victims, can in rare cases be transmitted among humans.

“This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director ⁠of epidemic and pandemic management, told a press conference.

“This is not the same situation we were in six years ago.”

The WHO said it was ​working on ⁠step-by-step guidance for when the dozens of passengers remaining on ‌the ship, which is sailing to the Canary Islands, arrives there on Saturday or Sunday and the passengers disembark and travel home.

None of these passengers currently have any symptoms.

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.

Argentine investigators tasked with analysing rodents at the landfill site to see if they carry the Andes strain of the hantavirus, that has been identified in the outbreak on the cruise ship, are yet to leave for Ushuaia, but plan to travel there “in the coming days”, AP reported.

Passengers were confined to their cabins while “disinfection and other public health measures are carried out”, the WHO said on Tuesday.