Britons on hantavirus cruise destined for UK hospital as health experts embark on contact tracing

Public Health Scotland said it was working alongside public health agencies in Wales and Northern Ireland to support UK Health Security Agency to respond to the incident and manage any risks associated with those on board the MV Hondius.

These include “well-established protocols” around contact tracing and isolation measures “where necessary”.

The cruise ship is due to dock in the Canary Islands from Cape Verde on Sunday, weather depending, with passengers to be met by the UKHSA and Foreign Office.

READ MORE: ‘Race is on’ to trace contacts of infected cruise passengers

British passengers will then be transfered by charter flight to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, which was used as the UK's quarantine site at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A joint statement has been issued by NHS England North West, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board, Merseyside Police, North West Ambulance Service and Wirral Council.

It said: "In line with advice from the UK Health Security Agency, on arrival they will be taken to a managed setting for clinical assessment and testing.

"We expect this initial stay to be up to 72 hours.

"Following this, public health specialists will assess whether they can isolate at home or at another suitable location, based on their living arrangements.

"The risk to the general population remains very low.

"Our partner organisations are working together to ensure that all returning passengers are welcomed, comfortable and well supported throughout their stay.

"We would like to thank our staff and partners across the NHS, emergency services and local government for their professionalism and dedication in co-ordinating this response, and we will continue to work closely with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and other partners throughout."

The virus has killed three people and left several in hospital, including two British men and third who is suspected of infection.

Professor Sir Peter Horby, director of the pandemic sciences institute at the University of Oxford, said: “I believe the UKHSA, Foreign Office and NHS are taking all the right and necessary measures to protect the UK citizens involved in this challenging incident and to protect the broader UK population.

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“Repatriation and isolation is the right thing to do, morally and scientifically.”

Two British men are currently being treated for hantavirus in the Netherlands and Johannesburg, South Africa, while a third British man with symptoms is being cared for on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where he left the ship.

In total, the Foreign Office said 30 passengers and crew from the MV Hondius are British, with 22 still on board the vessel.

Two Britons who left the ship at St Helena flew back to the UK and are self-isolating in the UK but do not have symptoms.

Four Britons are still on St Helena and a further Briton has been tracked and reached in an undisclosed country outside of the UK.

All those who were in contact with British nationals who left the ship are being traced and contacted by the UKHSA, though there is no indication of how many people that involves.

The Foreign Office is in daily contact with the 22 British passengers and crew on the ship and is answering any questions they have. They currently have no symptoms of hantavirus.

It is understood that any person who develops symptoms on the ship before it lands would then be treated in the Canary Islands.

Britons returning to the UK will not be allowed to take public transport to their homes to self-isolate.

They will stay in self-isolation for 45 days and will be self-testing. Further testing will be carried out once the 45-day isolation period ends.

UKHSA experts are still looking into the spread of the virus between people, with previous outbreaks suggesting people need to be in close contact and most transmission occurs when people have symptoms.

Around 30 people are now known to have left the cruise ship when it docked in St Helena towards the end of April, including a Dutch woman who became unwell during onward travel and died. She had been trying to repatriate the body of her husband, who died on the cruise.

In a statement, the UKHSA said: “UK Government staff will be on the ground ready to support the British nationals disembarking.

“British passengers and ship crew not displaying any symptoms of hantavirus will be escorted by UK Government staff to an airport and given free passage back to the UK.”

The statement added: “UKHSA is working with partners to ensure the flight operates under strict infection control measures.”

Experts believe the incubation period for the virus in the human body can extend to six weeks.

The outbreak has been connected to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina which two of the passengers went on before boarding the ship. They may have been bitten by a rodent whe trying to spot a bird at a landfill site, according to reports.

It comes as Spain’s health secretary, Javier Padilla, reported there was a suspected case of hantavirus in Alicante.

According to El Pais newspaper, it involves a passenger who was on the same plane as a passenger who left the ship to seek treatment in Johannesburg, where he died.

A 69-year-old British man who was taken off the MV Hondius with symptoms is currently receiving intensive care treatment at a private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg, and is said to be improving.

Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh told STV that it was “tricky to say” how likely it would be for Scottish cases to arise, as the cruise ship linked to an outbreak of the virus was full of people from different countries.

“Even if we don’t see cases right away in Scotland or in Britain, as we’ve learned cases anywhere in the world can spread quickly once it mutates to a form that allows human-to-human transmission.”