Some 22 British passengers and crew members aboard a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak are expected to reach Tenerife on Sunday, with hopes of flying them back to the UK the same day, the government has announced.
Officials from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Foreign Office will greet the MV Hondius when it docks in the Canary Islands. Britons on board will be tested for hantavirus before disembarking. Those who test negative and show no symptoms will be taken directly to a dedicated repatriation flight, staffed by medical professionals and equipped with testing kits, oxygen, and other medical supplies in case of illness.
The ship is currently on course to dock in Tenerife on Sunday, weather permitting, as it sails from the coast off Cape Verde. The majority of returning Britons are expected to self-isolate at home, but the UKHSA is arranging alternative facilities if needed, with details to be released later.
Two British men are currently being treated for hantavirus in the Netherlands and Johannesburg, South Africa, while a third with symptoms is being cared for on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha. In total, the Foreign Office confirmed that 30 passengers and crew from the MV Hondius are British, with 22 still on board.
Seven Britons disembarked in St Helena on April 23, and the man with suspected hantavirus left the ship at Tristan da Cunha. Two Britons who left at St Helena flew back to the UK and are self-isolating without symptoms. Four Britons remain on St Helena, and one has been traced in an undisclosed country. The UKHSA is tracing and contacting all individuals who had contact with British nationals who left the ship.
The Foreign Office maintains daily contact with the 22 British passengers and crew on the ship, who currently show no symptoms. Anyone developing symptoms before docking would be treated in the Canary Islands. A joint Foreign Office and UKHSA team is in Tenerife to receive passengers.
Returning Britons will not be allowed to use public transport to reach their homes for self-isolation. They will self-isolate for 45 days, with self-testing and further testing after the isolation period ends. UKHSA experts are investigating the virus's spread, noting that previous outbreaks suggest close contact is needed for transmission, mostly when symptoms are present. Officials believe the current strain is not more transmissible than previous ones.
Nine confirmed cases of hantavirus have been linked to the cruise ship, including the two British men, with one further suspected case. Five of the nine are confirmed, while four remain suspected. The remote islands of St Helena, Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha lie in the South Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America.
Around 30 people left the cruise ship when it docked in St Helena in late April, including a Dutch woman who died after becoming unwell during onward travel. Three deaths in total are linked to the outbreak.
In a statement on Friday, the UKHSA said: "UK Government staff will be on the ground ready to support the British nationals disembarking. British passengers and ship crew not displaying any symptoms of hantavirus will be escorted by UK Government staff to an airport and given free passage back to the UK." The statement added that the flight will operate under strict infection control measures, with public health and infectious disease specialists from UKHSA and the NHS on board.
The 69-year-old British man taken off the ship with symptoms is receiving intensive care in Sandton, Johannesburg, and is said to be improving. Another Briton, Martin Anstee, 56, was flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday and is also improving.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Thursday that morale has improved on board since the ship began its journey to Tenerife. Two doctors and infectious disease experts from WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) are conducting medical assessments of all passengers and crew. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that more cases could emerge due to the incubation period of the Andes virus variant, which can extend to six weeks.
The outbreak has been linked to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina that two passengers attended before boarding. Spain's health secretary, Javier Padilla, reported a suspected case of hantavirus in Alicante, involving a passenger who was on the same plane as the patient who died in Johannesburg.
Professor Sir Peter Horby, director of the pandemic sciences institute at the University of Oxford, said: "I believe the UKHSA, Foreign Office and NHS are taking all the right and necessary measures to protect the UK citizens involved in this challenging incident and to protect the broader UK population. Repatriation and isolation is the right thing to do, morally and scientifically."
