Two Britons are self-isolating in the UK after returning from the MV Hondius cruise ship, which experienced a hantavirus outbreak. Health officials recommend a 45-day isolation period for passengers, with three deaths reported since April 11.
Key points
Two Britons self-isolating after returning from MV Hondius
Health officials recommend 45-day isolation for passengers
Three deaths reported since April 11 on the ship
Eight suspected cases, three confirmed as hantavirus
Risk to the general public remains very low
Mentioned in this story
World Health OrganizationUK Health Security Agency
MV Hondius
British passengers onboard a cruise ship hit with a deadly outbreak of hantavirus will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for 45 days, a health official suggested, as two passengers who left the vessel continue to isolate at home in Britain.
Neither of the two Britons who left MV Hondius at St Helena in late April are reporting symptoms, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKSA).
A British crew member was medically evacuated from the ship after falling ill and flown to the Netherlands for specialist care. The Foreign Office is arranging a charter flight for remaining Britons onboard the ship who are not displaying symptoms, so they can be repatriated once docking Tenerife in the coming days.
Three people on the MV Hondius have died since 11 April. As of Thursday, there have been eight suspected cases, three of which were confirmed as hantavirus – a rare family of viruses carried by rodents – by lab testing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“It’s important to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains very low,” said Dr Meera Chand, the deputy director for epidemic and emerging infections at the UKHSA.
“We are standing up arrangements to support, isolate and monitor British nationals from the ship on their return to the UK and we are contact-tracing anyone who may have been in contact with the ship or the hantavirus cases to limit the risk of onward transmission.”
Ambulances alongside a plane.
Medical evacuation flight after landing at Schiphol on Thursday. Photograph: Michel van Bergen/EPA
It is understood 19 British nationals were listed among the 150 passengers on the cruise, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, with four British crew members. The outbreak has been linked to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina joined by two passengers before they boarded the ship.
Officials in Argentina, from where the cruise departed, if the country was the source of the deadly outbreak. The Latin American country, which has reported 101 hantavirus infections since June 2025, is consistently ranked by the WHO as having the highest incidence of the rare, rodent-borne disease.
Q&A
What is hantavirus and how is it transmitted?
Hantavirus is a rare family of viruses carried by rodents, which can cause severe respiratory issues in humans.
How many people have been affected by the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius?
As of now, three confirmed cases of hantavirus have been reported, with eight suspected cases overall.
What precautions are being taken for passengers returning from the MV Hondius?
Passengers are being asked to self-isolate for 45 days upon their return to the UK to monitor for symptoms.
What happened to the British crew member who fell ill on the MV Hondius?
The British crew member was medically evacuated from the ship and flown to the Netherlands for specialist care.
The UKHSA has said once the ship docks in Tenerife, the remaining British nationals can be repatriated if they do not develop symptoms. It said that though none of the British nationals onboard were reporting symptoms, they were being closely monitored.
Spain’s health minister, Mónica García, said on Wednesday that none of the passengers left onboard the ship were presenting symptoms of the disease and would be repatriated to their countries. The 14 Spaniards onboard would be flown to a hospital in Madrid to quarantine, she said.
On Monday, South African officials said a British man was in critical condition with the virus and receiving private care in Johannesburg.
About 40 passengers are believed to have disembarked the ship on the south Atlantic island of St Helena after the first passenger died, according to Dutch officials.
Among the three individuals medically evacuated from the ship on Wednesday was British crew member Martin Anstee. The expedition guide and former police officer was flown to the Netherlands and spoke from hospital saying: “I’m doing OK. I’m not feeling too bad. There are still lots of tests to be done.”
Martin Anstee.
Martin Anstee was medically evacuated from the ship after falling ill. Photograph: Facebook
It was a “good sign” Anstee was able to communicate with family, said Prof Robin May, the chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, adding that he would be under investigations for some time. May also told BBC Breakfast on Thursday that the two British nationals who left the cruise earlier on its course had returned to the UK before the outbreak was detected.
“There’s a chance they may have been exposed to the virus, so we have been in contact with them. They have agreed very kindly to self-isolate for the next period of time,” said May, who said the same process would apply to other British nationals onboard who he suggested would be asked to self-isolate, most likely at home, for 45 days.
May said hantaviruses as a group were widespread across the world. The viruses naturally infect rodents and are “occasionally” transmitted to humans, according to the WHO, through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva.
A focus is an Andean strain, which has shown evidence of limited human to human transmission in the past among close contact, according to the WHO. Found in South American, it can cause a severe and often fatal lune disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Found in Europe and Asia, the viruses can cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.
May said the Andes virus strain had been studied intently because it was “such a severe disease” and there were global efforts to develop vaccines against it. “This is not a virus that spreads easily between humans,” he added, but given it could spread between individuals, “we are contact tracing everyone who might have been in close contact.”
He said: “We will continue to support them and their families whilst they self-isolate, probably at home, but obviously depends very much on the individual circumstances, depending on where they live and who they live with, as to what the most appropriate mechanism is for them to self-isolate for the next 45 days.”
