London, May 8 (IANS). Hantavirus infection has been confirmed in two British citizens on Tristan da Cunha island in the South Atlantic Ocean, while another person is suspected to have the infection. This information was given by the UK Health Security Agency on Friday.
The agency said that currently no British passengers or crew on the cruise ship ‘MV Hondius’ are showing symptoms of the disease, but everyone is being closely monitored. Upon the ship’s return to the UK, all British passengers and crew will be asked to self-isolate for 45 days.
According to news agency Xinhua, when the ship reaches the port of Tenerife in Spain on Sunday, British government employees will be present there to help the British citizens disembark.
The agency also reported that seven British citizens had disembarked from the ship on St. Helena island in the South Atlantic on April 24. Two of these people have returned to Britain and are in isolation at home. No symptoms of infection have been found in them yet.
The remaining four people are currently in St. Helena, while the seventh person has been traced outside the UK.
On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that out of the eight cases found on the ship ‘MV Hondius’, five have been confirmed to be Hantavirus infection, while the remaining three cases have been considered suspicious. WHO also clarified that this dangerous Hantavirus infection is not ‘the beginning of a new epidemic like Covid’ and its danger to the common people is currently low.
Meanwhile, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared this Hantavirus situation as a ‘Level 3’ emergency, which is the lowest level. This information was given in Thursday’s report of ABC News.
This means that at present the risk to the general public is low, but health agencies are constantly monitoring the situation.
On Thursday, WHO again said that out of the eight cases found on the MV Hondius, five are confirmed cases of Hantavirus infection, while three other cases are still under investigation.
WHO reiterated that this situation is not ‘the beginning of a global pandemic like COVID’ and there is no need for the public to panic at this time.
–IANS
AY/ABM