A 56-year-old British man identified as former police officer Martin Anstee was evacuated Wednesday from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius and transported to the Netherlands for treatment, as the outbreak aboard the vessel continued to grow.
Three people have died on the ship since it departed Argentina roughly a month ago. Three confirmed and five suspected cases of hantavirus have now been identified aboard the vessel, which currently sits near Cape Verde, off the west coast of Africa, with around 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries still on board.
Anstee was one of three people evacuated Wednesday. The other two were Dutch and German nationals. Oceanwide Expeditions, the ship's operator, said the German evacuee was "closely associated" with a German woman who died on board on May 2.
Anstee's wife, Nicola, told the Daily Telegraph it had been "a very dramatic few days." Describing her husband's condition, she said: "He's relieved to be off the ship. He had it quite mild then it got a bit more serious and now he's stable again. The fear with this virus is it can deteriorate very quickly so it's been a bit up and down for him. I don't believe he's in imminent danger now but it was horrible."
Prof Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency, told BBC Breakfast that Anstee was doing well and would remain under investigation. "He is going to be under investigation for some time. I'm very pleased he's now in hospital and receiving the treatment he needs," May said.
Two additional British passengers who disembarked the ship at St. Helena in late April and flew home via Johannesburg are now self-isolating in the UK. Neither had symptoms, but both contacted health officials after learning of the outbreak. The UKHSA said the risk to the UK population remains "very low."
A video filmed by Turkish YouTuber Ruhi Çenet and obtained by the BBC shows the ship's captain telling passengers on April 12 that the first person to die had passed away from "natural causes" and that the individual was "not infectious." According to Çenet, no immediate safety precautions were taken at the time. Oceanwide Expeditions told the BBC that the first report of hantavirus came "after disembarkation at St Helena" and that it "acted as we reported via our press updates" following the first identified hantavirus case on May 4.
The Andes strain of the virus has been confirmed in two passengers, according to South Africa's health minister. That strain has been observed spreading between humans in close contact in previous outbreaks, though rarely. The general incubation period is now believed by experts to be around six weeks, according to May.
Spanish authorities have granted permission for the MV Hondius to dock in the Canary Islands. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the American public remains "extremely low."