Health authorities are racing to trace dozens of passengers who disembarked from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship on the remote island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
The Dutch ship, the MV Hondius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1. At least 29 passengers of 12 nationalities left the vessel on April 24, including a 69-year-old woman who later died in South Africa. A Swiss national diagnosed with hantavirus was also among those who left.
Briton Martin Anstee, 56, is among three evacuated from the ship-along with a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German. Two other Britons are self-isolating in the UK.
The World Health Organization reports eight cases of hantavirus, three confirmed and five suspected. Two other passengers died on board, though their causes of death are still under investigation.
The ship is set to dock in Spain's Canary Islands in the coming days.
The Dutch government says the ship stopped at St. Helena en route to Cape Verde. Among those who disembarked was the 69-year-old Dutch woman who traveled to South Africa and died on April 26. Her husband died on board on April 11.
Before her death, she boarded a KLM flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam but became ill before departure. Dutch media report a flight attendant who had contact with her is hospitalized with hantavirus symptoms.
Singapore is testing two men who disembarked on St. Helena and took the same flight as the deceased woman. Georgia and Arizona are monitoring three US passengers who returned home, none showing symptoms.
St. Helena, one of the most remote islands on Earth, has a population of about 4,400 and one hospital. Argentina is testing rodents in Ushuaia.