A British individual who left the hantavirus cruise ship prematurely is currently unaccounted for while health authorities work to locate the person. Seven British passengers disembarked from the MV Hondius during the voyage, including a woman who later passed away.
Upon reaching the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena, a total of 29 individuals left the ship, among them a Dutch woman who fell ill during further travel and eventually died. This woman was escorting her husband’s body, which was being repatriated following his death on April 11 aboard the ship.
As confirmed by a spokesperson from the UK Health Security Agency to The Mirror, out of the seven Britons who disembarked in St Helena on April 24, two are currently self-isolating in the UK, four remain in St Helena, and efforts are underway to locate the missing person.
The 30 individuals who disembarked in St Helena represented 12 different nationalities. The cruise ship is now en route to the Canary Islands after a stop in Cape Verde. Five out of the eight suspected hantavirus cases from the ship have been verified.
Nineteen British nationals were listed as passengers on the MV Hondius, which was traveling from Argentina to Cape Verde, alongside four British crew members.
Two British individuals, including crew member Martin Anstee, 56, were medically evacuated for specialized medical treatment. Another British passenger, reportedly a 69-year-old man, was evacuated to South Africa and is currently receiving care in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Following recommendations from UK health experts, British passengers from the cruise ship will be asked to self-isolate in the UK for a period of 45 days. Professor Robin May, the chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), emphasized that the risk to the general public not directly involved in the cruise ship incident is minimal.
