UK Detects New Suspected Hantavirus Case on Remote Island

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1518 EAT on Friday 8 May 2026

Health authorities are monitoring a growing hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship, after a new suspected case was identified involving a British national on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha.

The UK Health Security Agency said on Friday that two confirmed British cases had already been linked to the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, and that officials are now assessing an additional suspected infection on Tristan da Cunha.

Authorities have not yet released further details about the latest suspected case.

Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — have died after contracting the virus during the voyage. Authorities have so far confirmed five infections, while several additional suspected cases remain under investigation.

The vessel is expected to dock on the Spanish island of Tenerife in the coming days. British passengers who remain asymptomatic will be flown back to the United Kingdom and advised to isolate for 45 days as a precautionary measure.

Seven British nationals had earlier disembarked on Saint Helena, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic. Officials said two are currently isolating in mainland Britain, four remain on the island, and one individual has been traced outside the country.

Global risk remains low
The World Health Organization said the global risk posed by the outbreak remains low, despite concerns that the Andean strain identified in some cases can, in rare circumstances, spread from person to person.

“This is not coronavirus, this is a very different virus,” said Maria Van Kerkhove.
“This is not the same situation we were in six years ago,” she added.

Health officials have contacted passengers from at least 12 countries who disembarked from the ship earlier in April as part of an international contact-tracing operation.

Monitoring efforts are ongoing across several regions, including the United States and Singapore, where returning travellers are being tracked or tested despite showing no symptoms.

Authorities said the measures are intended to contain any potential spread of the virus and identify possible infections at an early stage.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is closely monitoring developments linked to the outbreak and assessed the risk to the American public as “extremely low”.

US authorities have begun tracking individuals who travelled on the ship. Health departments in Georgia and Arizona are monitoring returning residents who remain asymptomatic, while other states, including California and Texas, have also identified passengers connected to the voyage.

Singaporean authorities have isolated and are testing two residents who were on board the vessel, while French officials have also identified a contact linked to the outbreak who has not shown symptoms.

United States President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the situation and expressed confidence that the outbreak was being contained.

“It’s very much, we hope, under control,” Trump said. Asked whether people in the US should be worried about possible transmission, he replied: “I hope not.”

Hantavirus is usually transmitted through contact with infected rodents, although rare instances of human-to-human transmission have previously been recorded.

Despite the deaths associated with the outbreak, health agencies have stressed that the situation remains contained, with no evidence of widespread transmission beyond individuals directly linked to the cruise ship.

-Aljazeera

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