Third British citizen confirmed as suspected hantavirus patient on MV Hondis cruise ship, says authorities.
The individual in question is currently on the island of Tristan da Cunha, situated off the coast of the South Atlantic Ocean, following a stopover by the ship earlier this month.
Two British men were previously confirmed as hantavirus patients on the ship; one has since been evacuated from the ship to the Netherlands and is currently stable, while the other has been hospitalized in South Africa since last month and is now recovering.
There have been a total of five cases of hantavirus infection reported so far, with one of the patients having been a passenger who unfortunately passed away.
The cruise liner is expected to dock in the Canary Islands this coming weekend, from where they will fly back the British nationals on a charter plane to their homeland. While none of the remaining British individuals have yet developed any symptoms, it is likely that they will be requested to stay in quarantine for up to 45 days as a safety measure.
This situation has drawn worldwide attention, and health officials are currently tracing passengers across multiple nations after some of them have already disembarked from the ship prior to the discovery of the virus. Seven British individuals were previously taken off the cruise ship at St Helena on 24 April.
It is still unclear what the origin of the infection was. Yet, according to the WHO, the first infected individuals had traveled to regions in South America inhabited by rodents that are carriers of the virus.
The virus is typically transmitted via contact with infected rodents. Yet, the possibility of human-to-human transmission cannot be ruled out.
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