Hantavirus Outbreak Spreads to Spain and South Atlantic Island

Health authorities have registered a new suspected hantavirus case involving a British passenger aboard the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius, which has been struck by an outbreak. The UK Health Security Agency said the case concerns a person currently on Tristan da Cunha, a remote South Atlantic island where the ship stopped on 15 April.

One of the island's residents has been hospitalized and his wife remains in isolation at home, according to British Minister for the Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty. Four other island residents who travelled by boat to St Helena have been advised to isolate as a precaution. Tristan da Cunha, with a population of around 200, is one of the most isolated inhabited places in the world.

A further suspected case has been reported in Spain. A woman who travelled on the same flight as a cruise passenger who died in Johannesburg on his return journey has been isolated in a hospital in Alicante. Authorities are monitoring those with whom she had contact.

Three people have now died following the outbreak on the MV Hondius. The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed four additional cases among citizens of Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland and is investigating another suspected case. The situation is complicated by the suspected involvement of the Andes strain of hantavirus, which in rare cases can be transmitted between humans.

(reuters, max)