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New hantavirus update as more people taken to Arrowe Park Hospital

UKHSA confirmed that nine asymptomatic contacts from St Helena and Ascension Island arrived in the UK yesterday evening

[Passengers arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside]

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Passengers arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside(Image: 2026 Anadolu/Getty Images)

The UK Health Security Agency shared an update on the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak yesterday, Sunday May 17. It comes as the UK government continues to work with the NHS, local authorities and UK Overseas Territories in response to the hantavirus outbreak.

UKHSA confirmed nine asymptomatic contacts from St Helena and Ascension Island arrived in the UK yesterday evening. The health agency said they will be brought to the UK to complete their self-isolation, where the NHS's High Consequence Infectious Diseases network can provide support should they become unwell.

The group were transferred to Arrowe Park where they will be "closely" monitored. Dr Meera Chand, Deputy Director at UKHSA, said yesterday: "UKHSA will continue to work with our partners locally, nationally and internationally to ensure everyone has the necessary support in place.

"We are undertaking safe repatriation of those affected by the outbreak where appropriate, incorporating medical checks and support, with the latest flight arriving tonight. We are committed to keeping these passengers and the wider population safe and will remain in close contact with them as they complete their self-isolation period."

It was these same Arrowe Park accommodation blocks that British people returning from Wuhan in China were transferred to at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Earlier this month, 20 British nationals from the MV Hondius, together with a German who is a UK resident and a Japanese passenger, were taken to the Merseyside site.

On Wednesday, May 6, the type of virus in this outbreak was confirmed as Andes hantavirus by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa and the Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland.

Symptoms of hantavirus infection can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or shortness of breath. In some cases, people develop severe breathing difficulties requiring hospital care.

Symptoms usually appear between two to four weeks after being exposed to the virus, but there are reports of symptoms occurring up to 40 days after exposure.

Although hantavirus is a serious infection, the risk to the wider UK population is very low. Only Seoul hantavirus, which does not transmit person to person, has ever been identified in the UK.

UKHSA said: "It is highly unlikely that you will have been exposed to this virus. Contact tracing teams will contact you directly if there is any risk that you have been exposed.

"If you have been in contact with someone who has been identified as a contact of a person with hantavirus, you do not need to take any action and can continue your normal activities.

"FCDO staff have been in direct contact with British nationals on board the ship. Their consular services remain available to British nationals 24/7."

Three people have died following the outbreak on the ship, two of whom were confirmed to have the virus, which is found in wild rodents. Health bosses maintain that the risk to the public remains very low.

The UK Health Security Agency has consistently reminded people that hantavirus is not spread through everyday social contact and says "robust infection control measures remain in place at every stage." Arrowe Park Hospital continues to operate as normal.

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