Foreign Office warns Brit hantavirus is now 'health concern' after cruise outbreak

Authorities in Tenerife are preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board the MV Hondius, which is currently headed for the Canary Islands.

The ship is expected to reach Tenerife by Sunday. Health officials say they will perform careful evacuations once the ship has arrived.

Virginia Barcones, Spain's head of emergency services, said: "They will arrive at a completely isolated, cordoned-off area."

The British government said it will send a plane to evacuate the nearly two dozen Brits still on the cruise ship.

Scientists say the current hantavirus outbreak should be studied so that the world is better prepared for future cases.

Professor Sir Peter Horby, Moh Family Foundation Professor of Emerging Infections and Global Health, and Director of the Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, said the health agencies are doing all the right things to protect the UK citizens.

[Health personnel assisting patients onto a boat from the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia]

Health personnel assisting patients onto a boat from the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

"Repatriation and isolation is the right thing to do, morally and scientifically," he said. "It will ensure the UK citizens from the MV Hondius potentially exposed to this virus receive the medical monitoring they need whilst minimising the risk of further infections."

Prof Horby added: "It's important that we also use this incident to learn more about Andes Hantavirus infection and disease so we are better prepared for future cases and outbreaks."

Scientists at the University of Bath are working to develop a vaccine against hantavirus.

Chemist Professor Asel Sartbaeva is among a team of scientists who began working on a vaccine 15 years ago.

She is working to develop a jab that won't need to be transported at freezing temperatures and will withstand being transported by drone.

"We've been putting the thermal stabilisation on top of it to make that vaccine resistant to temperature changes so that we can do, for example, drone deliveries," she told the BBC.

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Scientists are working on a vaccine (stock image)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday that morale has improved on board since the ship started its journey to Tenerife.

It said two doctors are on board along with infectious disease experts from the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), who are conducting a medical assessment of all passengers and crew.

While the risk to the public is low, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said there could be more cases because of the incubation period of the Andes virus the variant of hantavirus linked to the outbreak.

Experts believe the incubation period for the virus in the human body can extend to six weeks.

The WHO is not expecting the outbreak to be an epidemic.

All British passengers and crew on board the MV Hondius will be asked to isolate for 45 days upon returning to the UK, with health officials closely monitoring these individuals.

"Follow up is already underway for individuals who may have been in contact with cases and have since returned to the UK or are in in UK Overseas Territories," the UKHSA says.

"The UK government will ensure those self-isolating are given appropriate support."

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A number of passengers were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday(Image: AP)

Health authorities spread across four continents are racing to track down and monitor passengers who disembarked a hantavirus-affected cruise ship before its deadly outbreak was identified.

On 24th April, nearly a fortnight after the first passenger had died on board, more than two dozen people from at least 12 different countries disembarked the vessel without any contact tracing taking place, according to the ship's operator and Dutch officials on Thursday.

"We believe this will be a limited outbreak if the public health measures are implemented and solidarity is shown across all countries," said Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, the WHO's alert and response director on Thursday.

[An illustrated map depicting the itinerary of a cruise ship affected by a coronavirus outbreak, with the ship's path marked by a red line leading to the Canary Islands.]

A map shows where hantavirus has spread so far

Read the full story here.

Passenger Kasem Ibn Hattuta told ABC News that now several doctors are on board, passengers have been reassured.

"The vibe on the ship mightve been calm with a bit of concern because we were worried about the sick ones, but now it doesnt feel different than any of the other sea days we had before," he said.

"Everyone is keeping high spirits, people are smiling and taking the situation calmly."

President Trump has commented on the current hantavirus outbreak. The US president said: "It's very much, we hope, under control."I think we're going to make a full report about it tomorrow.

"We have a lot of people a lot of great people are studying it. It should be fine, we hope."

Asked about the two British passengers who have returned to the UK, Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, added that contact tracing is happening for anyone who may have sat next to them on the flight home.

Some 19 British nationals were listed as passengers on the MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, with four British crew members.

UK health experts said British passengers on board will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for 45 days.

According to the UKHSA, none of the British citizens on board are reporting symptoms but they are being closely monitored.

The cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak is still days away from docking.

According to Oceanwide Expeditions, the boat left the shores of Cape Verde at 6.15pm UK time on Wednesday, and is estimated to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife in the early hours of Sunday but this is subject to change.

The Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight so the remaining Britons on board the ship who are not displaying symptoms can be repatriated once they dock in Tenerife.

Two vials of hantavirus were among more than 300 that vanished from an Australian laboratory in 2024.

At the time, the most likely explanation for the "disappearance" was believed to be the misplacement of containers during a transfer to a new freezer.

Read the full story here.

Although hantavirus is a serious infection, the risk to the wider UK population is "very low", according to the UK Health Security Agency.

Only Seoul hantavirus, which does not transmit from person to person, has ever been identified in the UK.

Hantavirus is not spread through everyday social contact. In the rare instances where it has been transmitted between people, this has involved close and prolonged contact with an infected person.

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents such as mice and rats and spread through their droppings, urine and saliva.

They are found around the world, including in parts of Europe, Africa and Asia, and can cause a range of diseases from mild, flu-like illness to severe respiratory illness.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses can cause two serious syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs, and haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which affects the kidneys.

While rare, the World Health Organization says hantavirus infections can in some cases be transmitted between people. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can improve the chances of survival.

Argentina's Health Ministry said there were 28 deaths from hantavirus last year, up from an average mortality rate of 15 in the five years before that.

Nearly a third of cases last year were fatal, it said.

Tests have confirmed that at least five people who were on the ship were infected with a hantavirus found in South America, called the Andes virus.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said that while the risk to the public is low, there could be more cases due to the incubation period of the Andes virus.

"Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, its possible that more cases may be reported," he said. "While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low."

He added: "I would also like to thank the ships operator for its co-operation, and the passengers and crew who are going through a very difficult and frightening situation.

"Ive been in touch with the ships captain regularly, including this morning. He told me morale has improved significantly since the ship started moving again."

In total, five people are confirmed to have contracted hantavirus and another three people are suspected of having it, the World Health Organization said.

Three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius.

The French Health Ministry has issued a statement confirming that a French national has been tested for hantavirus and placed in isolation after displaying mild symptoms.

The person had been in contact with a confirmed hantavirus case who flew from Saint Helena to Johannesburg, according to the statement.

Eight other French nationals who were not on board the MV Hondius have been identified as contacts of the confirmed case, the statement added.

Health authorities across four continents are tracking down and monitoring passengers who disembarked the MV Hondius before its deadly hantavirus outbreak was detected. Authorities are also trying to trace others who may have come into contact with them since then.

In Argentina, a team of investigators tasked with determining the origins of the virus has yet to travel to the southern town they suspect is the source, officials from the countrys Health Ministry have told The Associated Press.

The UK Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight for remaining Britons on board the cruise ship, who are not displaying symptoms, to be repatriated once they dock in Tenerife.

According to the UKHSA, none of the British citizens on board is reporting symptoms, but they are being closely monitored.

Prof Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, said the most extreme case of incubation of hantavirus may be up to eight weeks but general consensus is people need to isolate for probably six weeks, and so thats the period of isolation, 45 days, that were likely to be recommending.

Asked about the two British passengers who have returned to the UK, Prof May added that contact tracing is happening for anyone who may have sat next to them on the flight home.

The two contacted health officials when they heard about the cases on the ship and are voluntarily self-isolating in the UK. They do not have symptoms.

UK health experts said British passengers on board will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for 45 days.

The UK Health Security Agency has announced that two Britons who had already returned from the vessel are isolating at home. These passengers flew back to the UK via Johannesburg after getting off in St Helena.

Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, said for the broader public, not directly involved in this cruise ship, the risk here is really negligible.

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Medics escort a patient in the Netherlands who was evacuated from the cruise ship(Image: AP)

The WHO is not expecting the outbreak to be an epidemic, according to Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, director at the alert and response co-ordination department.

He highlighted a similar outbreak in Argentina in 2018/19 which led to 34 cases.

If we follow public health measures, and the lessons we learned from Argentina are shared across all countries we can break this chain of transmission and this doesnt need to be a large epidemic, Dr Mahamud said.

We dont anticipate a large epidemic. With experience our member states have, and the actions they have taken, we believe that this will not lead to subsequent chain of transmission.

World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus says the ship is heading for the Canary Islands and he is in regular communication with its captain.

"The ship is now sailing for the Canary Islands, and we are confident in the capacity of Spain to manage this risk, and we are supporting them to do so," he said. "We assess the risk to the people of the Canary Islands as low."

He added: "I have been in touch with the ships captain regularly, including this morning. He told me morale has improved significantly since the ship started moving again.

"I thank him for everything he has done to protect those under his duty of care."

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The cruise ship is now making its way to the Canary Islands(Image: AP)

World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus says there may yet be more cases of hantavirus which have not been diagnosed.

"So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths," he told a press briefing on Thursday. "Five of the eight cases have been confirmed as hantavirus, and the other three are suspected."

But he added: "Given the incubation period of the Andes Virus (Hantavirus), which can be up to six weeks, it's possible that more cases may be reported."

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Tedros Ghebreyesus said there may be more cases(Image: AFP via Getty Images)