UKHSA monitors hantavirus exposure after cruise ship cases, risk remains low
Two Britons returned from the MV Hondius were told to isolate after possible hantavirus exposure, as UK health officials said public risk remains very low.
UK health officials said the broader public faces a very low risk even as they trace possible hantavirus exposure tied to the MV Hondius, where a cluster of illnesses has already led to deaths and medical evacuations.
The UK Health Security Agency said on 6 May 2026 that two British nationals had returned to the United Kingdom from the ship and were told to self-isolate. Neither was reporting symptoms. The agency said it was also supporting a small number of close contacts identified from the vessel who were self-isolating and symptom-free, while working with the World Health Organization, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office and Border Force on contact tracing and precautionary measures.
The World Health Organization said the outbreak was first reported on 2 May and that by 4 May there were seven identified cases linked to the ship, including two laboratory-confirmed hantavirus infections and five suspected cases. WHO said three people had died, one patient was critically ill and three others had mild symptoms. Illness onset was reported between 6 and 28 April.
The MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged vessel, departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April with 147 people on board, including 88 passengers and 59 crew. Its itinerary took it across the South Atlantic and through Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena and Ascension Island, creating a web of cross-border health concerns as passengers dispersed through different ports and flight routes.
UKHSA said three people, including one British national, had been evacuated to the Netherlands for medical care. Reports said one British man, aged 56, was among those evacuated and was in stable condition. Other reports said about 150 people were still aboard the ship under strict precautionary measures.
The two Britons now isolating in the UK had left the vessel at Saint Helena between 22 and 24 April and flown home via Johannesburg, which prompted follow-up of their travel contacts. UK officials said that tracing was under way for people who may have been on the same flight as a confirmed case.
Health authorities say hantaviruses are carried by rodents and spread through their droppings, urine or saliva, often through inhalation of contaminated material. That mode of transmission helps explain why officials are watching close contacts closely while still stressing that the risk of onward spread to the public remains very low.
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