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ANOTHER rat virus case has been confirmed as Britons trapped on the infected cruise prepare to be flown home to isolate.
The number of hantavirus cases linked to the outbreak on MV Hondius has risen to six, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
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On Friday, UK health authorities said a third Brit who had been a passenger on the ship was suspected of being infected.
The patient is currently on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, the UK Health Security Agency said.
Widely considered the world’s most remote island, Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territory with just over 200 inhabitants.
Two other British men have confirmed cases. One remains in a stable condition in the Netherlands after being evacuated from the ship on Wednesday.
It comes as…
- Rat virus cruise passenger visited a school on infected territory
- The hunt is on for Brit who disembarked with dead passenger
- Brit crew member speaks out from hospital isolation
- Two Brits passengers self-isolating at home in UK
- Investigators think the virus was caught on a bird-watching trip
Another is in intensive care after being flown to South Africa last month.
There are two suspected cases that have not yet been identified, the WHO said.
A total of 22 UK nationals remain trapped on board the MV Hondius which is now steaming towards the Canary Islands where it is due to arrive in Granadilla, Tenerife on Sunday.
After furious locals threatened to blockade the port, the ship won’t dock, but will anchor nearby passengers will be evacuated using small boats.
The Brits will disembark the ship and be flown home to self-isolate in hotels.
It is understood some will not be able to go home and instead face stays of up to 45 days on their own in accommodation.
None of the ship’s passengers currently show symptoms of the virus.
Spanish authorities are preparing to receive the ship and its passengers, with plans for careful evacuations.
Passengers will be evacuated in small boats to buses, Spanish officials said Friday.
They will be transported in isolated and guarded vehicles through cordoned off sections of the airport.
Both the US and the UK have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens from the cruise ship.
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday he had been briefed on the outbreak and said: “It’s very much, we hope, under control…We have a lot of people, a lot of great people studying it. It should be fine.”
When asked if Americans should be worried he added: “I hope not – we’ll do the best we can.”
Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands have also confirmed they will send planes to evacuate their respective nationals, Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.
The European Union is sending two further planes for the remaining European citizens.
Grande-Marlaska said: “Only when their evacuation plane is ready will nationals from that country be disembarked.”
What is hantavirus? Bug with 40% mortality rate reaches Europe
By Bethan Moss and Eliza Loukou
THE deadly virus that ripped through Dutch cruise ship the MV Hondius, killing three, is usually transmitted via contact with rodent droppings.
But this particular strain, known as “the Andes virus” is an alarming exception.
Only found in the mountains of Argentina and Chile, the strain is the only hantavirus that has demonstrated the ability to spread between humans.
And the strain could have a terrifying mortality of up to 40 per cent, the WHO believe.
Passengers onboard the MV Hondius, stranded in the Atlantic ocean, could face a weeks-long quarantine as officials scramble to contain a deadly hantavirus outbreak.
So far, three passengers have died while others believed to have contracted the virus have been evacuated from the ship.
Meanwhile, a French national who wasn’t on board the cruise liner has reportedly contracted hantavirus after taking a flight with an infected passenger.
It marks the first case of the deadly disease in a patient who was not on the MV Hondius.
But this is not the first case to be reported in Europe since the outbreak was announced over the weekend.
According to the Swiss health ministry, a passenger who was aboard the MV Hondius is being treated in Zurich – while stressing “there is currently no risk to the Swiss public”.
As for the passengers still on the luxury vessel, they could face a quarantine of up to two months, experts have warned – as the virus has an incubation period of eight weeks.
This means people exposed to the virus might not develop symptoms until eight weeks later.
Hantaviruses are spread by rats, through contact with their urine, droppings and saliva.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are 10,000 to 100,000 cases in humans every year across the world.
Symptoms range from a mild flu-like illness to major respiratory issues or internal bleeding.
Although uncommon, limited human to human transmission has been reported in previous outbreaks of Andes virus – a specific species of hantavirus.
The strain is found largely in Chile and Argentina – where the cruise ship started in March – is the only known variant that can spread through close, prolonged human-to-human contact.
The WHO confirmed on Wednesday that the outbreak on the cruise ship is the Andes hantavirus.
South African officials also confirmed the Andes strain had caused infections in two of the cruise passengers.
A total of seven British nationals disembarked the infected MV Hondius on the remote island of St Helena on April 24.
Two are now self-isolating in the UK but the others have not yet returned.
Dr Stephen Kornfeld, who was on the cruise, told CNN how he became the ships de facto doctor.
The Oregon medic said: “Over 12 to 24 hours, it became clear that there were a number of people sick and they were getting sicker.”
Kornfield said symptoms included “lot of fever, fatigue, and flushing”.
He revealed: “At the time, neither one of them looked critically ill.
“But the fear with hantavirus is you can go from seriously ill to critically ill very quickly.”
Meanwhile passengers who disembarked on April 24 and travelled to home countries have sparked fears of global spread.
Turkish influencer Ruhi Çenet, 35, caused uproar online after he was pictured at a packed wedding after leaving MV Hondius.
The YouTuber was pictured at the event in Istanbul on May 3, the day the WHO announced it was investigating a possible outbreak on the ship.
Responding to the backlash, Ruhi said in an Instagram post that he is now quarantined “just in case”, but is not showing any symptoms.
The race to track down passengers who left the cruise early continues.
Two suspected cases of hantavirus in people not on the cruise ship have been linked to a Dutch woman who flew to Johannesburg before trying to travel home to Amsterdam.
The woman died of hantavirus in South Africa after being refused permission to fly to the Netherlands.
A Dutch flight attendant was hospitalised in Amsterdam with a suspected case of the virus after contact with the woman, but later tested negative.
Contact tracing is underway in several other countries for dozens of passengers who escaped the cruise ship before the outbreak was detected.
English (US) · 