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Foreign Office 'working urgently' to help Britons on virus-hit cruise get home

Ella Kipling
Getty Images MV Hondius, a navy blue and white cruise ship, in the water. The sky is grey and the water is a dark blue, while in the distance you can see a strip of land. Getty Images
Passengers onboard the MV Hondius have been stranded off Cape Verde due to a hantavirus outbreak

The Foreign Office has said it is "working urgently" to get British nationals stuck on board a cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak home safely.

There are 19 passengers and four crew members listed as British onboard the MV Hondius, according to figures released by Oceanwide Expeditions on Tuesday.

One of these, a 56-year-old doctor, was evacuated from the ship on Wednesday and has been confirmed to be in a "stable condition".

In a statement, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the situation was "very serious and deeply stressful for those affected and their families".

Three passengers have died on the MV Hondius since it departed from Argentina a month ago. Spanish authorities have given permission for the ship to dock in the Canary Islands, despite concerns from local officials.

Another three people with symptoms were evacuated from the vessel to receive medical help in the Netherlands on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

These include the British doctor, a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German.

It is still unknown where the outbreak originated from and if people other than cruise ship passengers have been infected with the disease.

The Foreign Office said the UK response to the outbreak was being led by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) working with the WHO.

The aim is to make sure British nationals on the MV Hondius can "all get safely home with proper protection for public health", Cooper said.

About 150 people are still aboard the cruise ship under "strict precautionary measures", Oceanwide Expeditions has said.

Graphic explaining how hantavirus can be transmitted to humans. Step one shows a rodent, labelled as a common carrier of the virus. Step two shows virus particles becoming airborne from rodent urine and droppings. Arrows point towards a human silhouette to show inhalation, labelled as the main route of infection. Step three explains that humans can be infected by breathing in these particles. Step four shows the lungs and kidneys highlighted inside the body, with text explaining that the virus can cause two severe illnesses leading to respiratory problems and lung damage, or internal bleeding and kidney failure. A note adds that infection can also occur through cuts, the eyes, or a rodent bite.

Consular staff are in direct contact with British nationals onboard the ship and the Foreign Office has been "working with other countries to facilitate the medical evacuations, to support our Overseas Territories and to get British nationals home safely as quickly as possible", Cooper added.

The UKHSA is also working with governments in St Helena, Tristan de Cunha and Ascension Island on isolation, contact-tracing efforts and response protocols.

The vessel will sail to the Canary Islands where all passengers will be evacuated at the Granadilla port in Tenerife, Spain's health minister Monica Garcia said on Wednesday.

Spanish passengers will be quarantined in Madrid, while those from other countries will be repatriated if they have no symptoms, Garcia said.

Hantavirus is a group of viruses carried by rodents such as mice and rats, and symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting.

Following the outbreak on the cruise, the UKHSA said the risk to the UK population was "very low" and there was "no need for concern among the general public".