Hantavirus-hit cruise ships leaves Cape Verde after three evacuated

Hantavirus-hit cruise ships leaves Cape Verde after three evacuatedJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKathryn ArmstrongReutersA Dutch cruise ship hit with a hantavirus outbreak has left Cape Verde, after three people on board were medically evacuated.A British man, 56, a Dutch crew member, 41, and a German national, 65, were sent from the MV Hondius to the Netherlands for treatment, officials said.The ship, which has 146 people on board, has begun a three-day journey to the Canary Islands. Three people who were aboard the ship have died since it set sail from Argentina a month ago. Officials have said that one of the deceased had the virus, while the other two deaths are under investigation.None of the three evacuees have tested positive for hantavirus so far, but two are showing symptoms. Spain's health minister earlier said the British man was a doctor but it was later understood that was not correct.The cruise ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said the third evacuee, a German passenger, was "closely associated" with a German woman who died on board the ship on 2 May. It comes as the UK's Health Security Agency said two British people were self-isolating at home in the UK after potential exposure to the virus on the ship. They left the vessel earlier in its journey and did not have symptoms.In its latest update, the World Health Organization (WHO) said eight cases of hantavirus - three confirmed and five suspected - have so far been identified in people who were on the ship. Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents, but health experts believe that in this case, it may have passed between humans that were in close contact.Testing to confirm whether other people on the ship have contracted the virus is ongoing. Health officials have stressed that the risk of transmission to the wider public is low.What is the cruise ship hantavirus and how does it spread? The vessel had been anchored near Cape Verde, off Africa's west coa...