Pitcairn Islands isolate woman following hantavirus exposure on MV Hondius
The UK Foreign Office and UK Health Security Agency are managing a low-risk public health situation on the British Overseas Territory after a woman with contact to an infected individual arrives from the virus-hit cruise ship.
The Pitcairn Islands government has confirmed that a woman is currently isolating on the remote British Overseas Territory after travelling on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which has been linked to a global hantavirus outbreak. A local government spokesperson stated that the individual had contact with a hantavirus-exposed person but was showing no signs of illness, describing the risk to the public as low.
The woman flew from San Francisco on 7 May, transiting through Tahiti and Mangareva in French Polynesia before arriving in Pitcairn. French Polynesian authorities held an emergency meeting and decided to bar her from re-entering their territory, citing that she had transited through without notifying territorial and national authorities. Officials noted that passengers on the same flight from San Francisco to Tahiti were not considered close contacts and the risk of infection was very low.
The UK Foreign Office and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are coordinating with local authorities to manage the situation. The UKHSA has mandated a 45-day isolation period for close contacts of confirmed cases, a classification that applies to those who travelled on the ship. The Pitcairn government emphasised that the wellbeing of its community, which numbers approximately 50 residents, remains the top priority as it works with UK health authorities.
The World Health Organization has confirmed nine cases of hantavirus globally linked to the MV Hondius, with three deaths associated with the vessel. The ship’s captain announced the evacuation of the last passengers on 12 May, and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated there was currently no sign of a larger outbreak, though he warned the situation could change. The virus, typically carried by rodents, is believed to have been contracted by some passengers via the Andes strain in South America.
The MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged vessel, departed Ushuaia in southern Argentina on 1 April with 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries. The outbreak resulted in the deaths of a 70-year-old Dutch man on board, his wife who died in South Africa after disembarking, and a German woman who died on the ship in May. The vessel left Tenerife on Monday and is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on 17 May. This incident follows a separate event in April where British army medics parachuted onto Tristan da Cunha to assist a resident with suspected hantavirus.
