Two British passengers who were medically evacuated from the hantavirus-affected cruise ship MV Hondius are reported to be improving, global health officials said.
A 69-year-old British man was flown to South Africa on 27 April and is receiving treatment at a private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg. Another Briton, 56-year-old expedition guide Martin Anstee, was removed from the ship and flown to the Netherlands for specialist care; he has said from hospital that he is feeling OK, remains in isolation and is awaiting further tests.
At a World Health Organization press briefing, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said the patient in South Africa was doing better and that two patients being treated in the Netherlands were stable. WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that the agency assesses the public health risk as low but warned there could be further cases because the Andes virus — the hantavirus variant linked to this outbreak — can have a lengthy incubation period.
As of Thursday there were eight suspected cases and five laboratory-confirmed infections. The outbreak has been linked to three deaths and appears connected to a birdwatching trip to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay taken by two passengers before boarding the cruise.
Spanish authorities have allowed the Hondius to anchor in the Canary Islands. The operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said the ship left Cape Verde on Wednesday and is expected to reach the port of Granadilla in Tenerife in the early hours of Sunday. WHO and EU disease experts, together with two doctors, are on board conducting medical assessments of passengers and crew, and officials reported that morale has improved during the voyage.
WHO officials said they do not expect this to develop into an epidemic. Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, who leads WHO alert and response coordination, cited a similar Argentina outbreak in 2018–19, which produced a limited number of cases. Still, officials urged vigilance because the incubation period for the Andes virus can be several weeks; UK health scientists have suggested a precautionary isolation period of 45 days for exposed people in the UK, while noting that extreme incubation reports have extended to around eight weeks.
Seven British nationals were among about 30 people from 12 countries who disembarked when the ship called at Saint Helena; a Dutch woman who later fell ill and died had been travelling after accompanying her husband’s repatriated body following his death on the ship on 11 April. A woman in Amsterdam who had contact with the deceased passenger has since come forward with possible symptoms.
Oceanwide said it has contacted guests who left the vessel. The UK Health Security Agency has been asked whether it has reached all seven Britons who disembarked in Saint Helena; it has previously said two Britons who had already returned home are isolating without symptoms, and contact tracing is under way for people who sat near them on their flights.
Nineteen British passengers and four British crew were listed on the manifest. UK officials are advising those who were aboard to self-isolate for the recommended period, and the Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight to repatriate remaining asymptomatic British passengers once the ship docks in Tenerife.
UKHSA chief scientific officer Professor Robin May said the risk to the general public remains negligible for people not directly involved with the cruise. Meanwhile, medical teams continue testing, monitoring and treating suspected cases while public health agencies complete contact tracing and assessments.