The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to work with the World Health Organization (WHO), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and other international partners to prepare for the arrival of British nationals to the UK from the MV Hondius cruise ship where an outbreak of Hantavirus was confirmed.
Three people, including one British national, with suspected hantavirus have been evacuated from the Hondius in order to receive medical care in the Netherlands in co-ordination between the Cape Verde, UK and Dutch governments. UKHSA are in close contact with medical teams providing their care.
The remaining British nationals 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. The FCDO is making arrangements for these individuals to return to the UK, where UKHSA is working with government to support them to isolate with regular testing and contact with healthcare professionals.
UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate. UKHSA are supporting a small number of individuals identified as close contacts of those on the boat. They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low.
Dr Meera Chand, Deputy Director for Epidemic and Emerging Infections at UKHSA said
Our thoughts are with all those affected by the hantavirus outbreak onboard the MV Hondius.
It’s important to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains very low. We are standing up arrangements to support, isolate and monitor British nationals from the ship on their return to the UK and we are contact tracing anyone who may have been in contact with the ship or the hantavirus cases to limit the risk of onward transmission.
UKHSA will continue to work closely with government partners to offer all necessary support.
UKHSA is working closely with the FCDO, the Home Office, and Border Force to trace further individuals who may have been on the same flight as a confirmed case, in order to carry out public health risk assessments and ensure appropriate precautionary measures are in place.
Hantavirus is the name given to a group of viruses carried by rodents and transmitted by their droppings and urine. They can cause a range of diseases from mild, flu-like illness to severe respiratory illness. Infections in humans are rare and tend to occur in places where people and rodents coexist – most commonly in rural, agricultural settings, though the viruses can also sometimes be found in cleaning sheds, barns and holiday homes where rodents might have nested.
Most hantaviruses do not spread easily between humans, although person-to-person transmission has been observed in some cases involving particular strains. The World Health Organization is leading the international response to this incident and overseeing direction of the ship, including advising on how to minimise the risk of the disease spreading.
The FCDO is in direct contact with the ship and has stood up consular teams across multiple countries to support British nationals. UK government is working extremely closely with international partners in response to this incident, including the cruise ship operator and the governments of overseas territories which were visited by the ship.
Further information on Hantavirus can be found in the recent blog from UKHSA.
