A pair of British nationals have been told to remain in isolation at home for as long as eight weeks following possible exposure to hantavirus on the stricken MV Hondius, health authorities have announced.
Both had been aboard the vessel but stepped off at St Helena during the ship's stop there between 22 and 24 April, subsequently travelling home through Johannesburg. Neither is displaying symptoms, and both came forward after news of the outbreak broke.
Prof Robin May, the UKHSA's chief scientific officer, said: "We're going to ask everybody who's exposed to self-isolate but we'll be working very closely to support them on that with regular testing and all the support you'd expect us to put in place.
"At the moment we are working — as you would expect — on the most cautious scenario, which is a potential eight-week isolation. Over the coming days and weeks we will be monitoring these people very closely and we may be able to adjust that."
He added: "That's obviously for their protection as well as everybody around them."
Efforts are also under way to identify fellow passengers who travelled in close proximity to the pair on their return flights to the UK, reports the BBC. Prof May said: "We'll be approaching all of those individuals and again working closely with them to make sure there's no risk to them or to the people around them."
The UKHSA said it was tracing the pair's contacts from the journey home and stressed there was no significant threat to the broader public.
The outbreak has claimed three lives on the MV Hondius. The vessel has secured Spanish authorisation to make port in the Canary Islands, overriding reservations expressed by local authorities.
Oceanwide Expeditions says roughly 150 people are still on board, operating under "strict precautionary measures." Of those, 19 passengers and four crew members hold British nationality.
A 56-year-old British man was among three individuals airlifted from the ship on Wednesday and is said to be stable. An earlier claim by Spain's health minister that he was the vessel's doctor has since been disputed.
Symptom-free British nationals on board are expected to be repatriated by charter flight from the Canary Islands. Once home, they face a self-isolation period, calculated from the point of their last potential exposure.
The WHO has assessed the wider public health risk as low, noting the virus is an unlikely candidate for person-to-person spread except in cases of prolonged close contact. Where and how the outbreak began remains unknown, and health officials have yet to determine whether infections have spread beyond those who were on board.
According to the WHO, the three evacuees — among them a Dutch crew member aged 41 and a 65-year-old German national alongside the British man — have been transferred to the Netherlands for treatment.
The Foreign Office has pledged to work "urgently" on securing the safe return of British nationals. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the crisis was "very serious and deeply stressful for those affected and their families."
