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Another Brit has suspected hantavirus as infected cruise heads to Tenerife

The British national is currently on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where the MV Hondius stopped in mid-April, the UK Health Security Agency says

[TOPSHOT - An aerial view of an ambulance boat carrying crew members wearing hazmat suits as they approach the pilot door on the starboard side of the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 5, 2026. Two seriously ill crew members on a cruise ship stricken by a deadly hantavirus outbreak will be evacuated via Cape Verde to the Netherlands, allowing the vessel to sail on to Spain's Canary Islands, the ship operator said Tuesday. The MV Hondius has been at the centre of an international health scare since Saturday, when WHO was informed that the rare disease -- usually spread from infected rodents typically through urine, droppings and saliva -- was suspected of being behind the deaths of three of its passengers. As others fell ill, passengers and crew have been in isolation after Cape Verde authorities barred the ship from docking, and as health authorities scrambled to find a port that would take the Hondius. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)]

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A third British national has suspected hantavirus(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

A third Brit is now suspected to have hantavirus following the horror cruise ship outbreak.

The patient is currently on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where the MV Hondius stopped in mid-April, the UK Health Security Agency says.

Two other Brits are confirmed to have the disease, including 56-year-old Martin Anstee, an ex-police officer and expedition guide, who was evacuated from the ship on Wednesday and is currently in a stable condition while receiving medical care in the Netherlands. He was evacuated alongside a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German.

The second Brit, a 69-year-old man, remains in intensive care after he was flown to Johannesburg at the end of April. Five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases from the ship have been confirmed, including one of the three passengers who died.

[Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday]

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Health workers evacuate patients from the MV Hondius into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde on Wednesday, May 6(Image: AP)

On Sunday, the ship is expected to dock in Tenerife, where UK government staff will be on the ground to support British nationals disembarking, the UKHSA says.

Passengers and crew members who are not displaying any symptoms of the disease will be escorted to an airport and given free passage back to the UK.

[Image of Martin Anstee]

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Brit Martin Anstee, 56, is receiving medical care in the Netherlands

None of the British citizens onboard are currently reporting symptoms, but will be asked to isolate once they return home.

It comes as the UK Foreign Office warned Brit tourists that hantavirus is now a health concern they should be wary of in Argentina.

Investigators believe the Dutch couple who presented the first cases on the cruise ship, and later died, may have contracted the deadly virus during a bird-watching trip across Argentina, Chile and Uruguay before boarding.

[TOPSHOT - This aerial view shows health personnel boarding the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. Evacuations were taking place on May 6, 2026 from a cruise ship stricken with a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, the World Health Organization said, as experts confirmed a rare strain that can be transmitted between humans. ]

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Five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases have been confirmed(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The ship departed from Argentina and investigations into the outbreak's source are focusing there. Two other Brits are back in the UK and voluntarily self-isolating at home after potential exposure. They do not have any symptoms.

They were among a group of 30 people - including seven Brits - who left the ship at St Helena on April 24, according to operator Oceanwide Expeditions.

The operator said the first confirmed hantavirus case was not reported until May 4.

Four British nationals who disembarked the ship at St Helena remain there. They do not have symptoms but, it is understood that medical staff will be sent to the islands to provide support.

British passengers who were on MV Hondius will likely be asked to self-isolate for 45 days upon returning to the UK, a health official has said.

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