Two Britons self-isolating after returning to UK from hantavirus-hit ship, say officials

Two people who were onboard a cruise ship hit with a deadly outbreak of hantavirus have returned to the UK and are self-isolating, British health officials have said. Neither of the two British people, 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. 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, 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.” Medical evacuation flight after landing at Schiphol on Thursday with a patient possibly infected with hantavirus. 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. …