Two British passengers are self-isolating at home in the UK after possible exposure to hantavirus aboard the expedition ship MV Hondius, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. The pair disembarked at St Helena in late April and returned to the UK via Johannesburg. Neither has developed symptoms but both contacted health officials after learning of cases on the vessel.
A 56-year-old British man was evacuated from the ship on Wednesday and flown to the Netherlands for treatment; media reports have identified him as former police officer Martin Anstee. He is reported to be in stable condition. Three people have died in the outbreak on the ship, which sailed from Argentina about a month ago. Other evacuees included a Dutch passenger and a German passenger, the latter said to have been closely associated with a woman who died on board on 2 May.
Hantaviruses typically spread from rodents, but health experts say the Andes strain—confirmed in two passengers—has on rare occasions transmitted between people after close contact. The incubation period can range from one to eight weeks; UKHSA chief scientific officer Professor Robin May said experts are consolidating around six weeks as a likely upper range.
UKHSA has assessed the risk to the UK population as very low and advised there is no need for concern among the general public. Oceanwide Expeditions listed 19 passengers and four crew as British. The operator said the ship will proceed to the Canary Islands, and Spanish authorities have permitted docking at Granadilla port in Tenerife. Spanish passengers will be quarantined in Madrid, while other nationals without symptoms will be repatriated.
The US Department of State said it is in direct contact with affected passengers and, via the CDC, described the risk to the American public as extremely low. The World Health Organization (WHO) said eight people, including a Swiss national, are suspected of having contracted the virus. The three people identified with symptoms—a British man, a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German—were evacuated to the Netherlands for care, WHO said.
UKHSA plans to fly British passengers home on a charter flight, likely from the Canary Islands, provided they remain asymptomatic. Returned passengers would be asked to self-isolate or be quarantined for up to six weeks depending on when their last exposure occurred. Officials will carry out contact tracing for family members, cabin-mates and anyone who sat near them on long-haul flights; May described the tracing as a mammoth effort that will continue for some time.
It remains unclear where the outbreak began or whether anyone outside the cruise has been infected. A passenger who left earlier in the voyage said ship staff initially assumed an illness was not infectious; a video posted from 12 April shows the captain saying a deceased passenger died of natural causes and was not infectious. Oceanwide said the first hantavirus report came after disembarkation at St Helena and that it acted in line with public updates from 4 May.
The Foreign Office said it is urgently working to get British nationals home, with consular staff in contact and the UK response led by UKHSA in coordination with WHO. UKHSA is also working with authorities in St Helena, Tristan da Cunha and Ascension Island on isolation, contact tracing and response protocols.