The global race to contain killer rat virus: As two Brits (AND their contacts) self-isolate after leaving death ship before hantavirus crisis exploded, health authorities across the world battle to trace how far it may have already spread

The global race to contain the deadly mouse-borne virus spread by passengers on an infected cruise ship continues as fears grow that hundreds of people may have come into contact with infectious carriers of the disease.

The MV Hondius has been at the center of an international health scare since Saturday following the outbreak of a rare hantavirus infection.

Although the disease is typically spread by rodents through urine, feces and saliva, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the less common Andean variant of the virus was the cause of the spread on the cruise ship.

This strain is believed to be the only hantavirus transmitted from person to person.

Three people, a Dutch couple and a German citizen, died in this epidemic.

There are a total of eight suspected and confirmed cases linked to the virus on the ship, which sailed from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde in Africa.

Hondius’ trip was split into three separate bookable cruises, which can be taken individually, but discounts are offered to passengers who take the entire trip.

It is unclear whether the infected Dutch couple boarded the ship on the first of three legs of the round-trip voyage from Ushuaia to Antarctica on March 20, and if so, how many other people were on board.

This comes after it was revealed that the deadly virus may have been carried aboard the ship after the husband and wife went bird watching in Ushuaia on March 20.

Martin Anstee (pictured), 56, was one of three suspected hantavirus patients removed from the ship and sent to the Netherlands for treatment on Wednesday morning.

Investigators said the couple had visited a landfill to capture city birds and may have been exposed to rodents carrying the disease.

They then traveled by ship, which set sail from Ushuaia, leaving the Argentinian city on April 1, with 88 passengers and 59 crew members and a total of 23 nationalities on board.

It remains unclear how many passengers paid only for the Antarctic leg of the journey and abandoned the boat when it returned to Argentina on 30 March.

WHO was trying to understand how hantavirus emerged on the ship; The first person to die developed symptoms on April 6.

The 70-year-old Dutch passenger died on April 11 while the ship was heading towards Tristan da Cunha.

Oceanwide Expeditions said his body remained on the ship until April 24, when he was ‘disembarked at St Helena, where he accompanied his wife to her repatriation’.

It appears that another 23 passengers had disembarked at this point, creating a possible point of international exposure when boarding flights.

The man’s 69-year-old widow fell ill on the flight from St Helena to South Africa and died on arrival at a Johannesburg hospital emergency department on April 26.

WHO confirmed that the woman flew into the city on April 25 on a plane operated by Airlink, carrying 82 passengers and six crew members.

An outbreak of the rare, mouse-borne disease, which has a 40 percent mortality rate, has killed three people and left many others seriously ill.

Spain’s Canary Islands expressed their opposition to not allowing the cruise ship to dock in the archipelago due to fears of a possible epidemic in the community.

The forensic team is seen leaving the plane after a patient was evacuated at Schiphol-East. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on board were three medical people evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius

He had also briefly boarded a flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands due to severe symptoms, but was removed from the plane by staff due to fears about his condition.

Health authorities are now trying to trace at least 80 passengers who were on the same two flights as the Dutch woman before she died.

On 27 April a British passenger on board ‘became seriously ill and was medically evacuated from Ascension Island to South Africa’.

A few days later, another passenger, a German citizen, died.

The MV Hondius reached Cape Verde a day later on 3 May but was not allowed to dock and the passengers were ‘stranded at sea’.

Three patients have since been taken to hospital in the Netherlands, a man in Switzerland was hospitalized after arriving home and two British passengers were confirmed to be self-isolating in the UK after being among those flying home from St Helena.

According to the UK Government’s hantavirus advice, symptoms usually appear between two and four weeks after exposure, but can range from two days to eight weeks; This means other passengers may develop the disease in the coming days or weeks.

About 40 percent of cases result in death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Chefs’ demonstration on MV Hondius before the hantavirus outbreak

The crew is seen eating before the ship’s departure

Passengers seen having fun on ship before deadly outbreak

Common areas remained empty as passengers isolated in their cabins

A British man was admitted to intensive care after the virus spread on the MV Hondius ship from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde in Africa.

Early on Thursday morning, it was confirmed that those returning home included an Australian who had been on a luxury cruise ship during the outbreak. Night view of ship anchored in a port in Cape Verde

During a previous Andean virus outbreak in 2018 and 2019 in the small town of Epuyen in Argentina’s Chubut Province, the infection rate before public health interventions was 2.2; This means that each infected person infects more than two people on average, and the disease spreads exponentially.

Early on Thursday morning, it was confirmed that an Australian who was on a luxury cruise ship during the outbreak was among those returning home after disembarking in St Helena on April 21.

A Spanish passenger still on the ship told El Pais newspaper: ‘No one had contacted them until three days ago.

‘Australians returned to Australia, Taiwan to Taiwan, Americans to every corner of North America. ‘Englishmen to England, Dutchmen home.’

The passenger also claimed that WHO did not contact passengers who disembarked until earlier this week, a month after the first infected passenger fell ill.

All passengers were instructed to remain in their cabins to prevent the possible spread of the virus. Currently the number of cases is at eight.

“Oceanwide Expeditions is in close and ongoing discussions with relevant authorities regarding our exact destination, our quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a definitive timeline,” the cruise operator said in a statement.

‘We are unable to confirm guests’ onward travel details at this stage.’

The ship left Cape Verde this afternoon following the evacuation of patients with suspected cases of the virus.

Canary Islands authorities tried to refuse orders from Spain, fearing that anyone on board could bring the deadly virus to their territory.

Their fears were further heightened on Wednesday when it emerged that the disease had spread to Switzerland after a passenger who had left the ship before the virus outbreak developed symptoms upon arrival home and is now receiving treatment in Zurich.

The man is being kept in an isolation unit and could be quarantined for up to 45 days to ‘make sure there is no risk to other patients,’ the head physician at the Zurich hospital told local news outlet 20 Minuten.

The disease has an incubation period of up to eight weeks; This is, in theory, the length of time 21 British passengers would be kept in quarantine if the UK government decided to copy Spain’s example.

The outbreak of the rare, rat-borne disease, which has a 40 per cent mortality rate, has killed three people and left scores seriously ill on the luxury cruise costing more than £10,000 per person.

However, although the epidemic caused international alarm, WHO said that the situation was not similar to the beginning of the Covid epidemic.

“This is not the next Covid, but it is a serious infectious disease,” said WHO’s chief epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove. ‘Most people will never be exposed to this.’

The footage shows paramedics wearing hazmat suits boarding the luxury MV Hondius off the coast of Cape Verde in a desperate attempt to take the three patients to specialist treatment in Europe.

Separate videos and images show patients wearing personal protective equipment lying on stretchers while being wheeled to an ambulance.

Meanwhile, the UK Government is ‘putting plans in place’ for future travel for Britons stranded on the cruise ship.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said in a post about X: ‘My thoughts are with those affected by the hantavirus outbreak on board the MV Hondius.

‘We are working closely with international partners to support British nationals on board and making plans for their safe travel.

‘The risk to the general public is very low; ‘Protecting the British people is our number one priority.’

The UK Health Safety Agency said on Wednesday night: ‘UKHSA is aware of two individuals who returned to the UK independently on board the MV Hondius.

‘None of these individuals are currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from the UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate.

‘UKHSA is supporting a small number of people identified as having been in close contact with those on the boat. They are offered support and at the same time they isolate themselves. None report any symptoms.

‘The risk to the public remains very low.’