In statements issued on 6, 8 and 9 May, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office set out the UK's response to the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius. The latest statement, issued on 9 May 2026, said the government was continuing to work with international authorities ahead of the return of British nationals from Tenerife to the UK after the World Health Organization confirmed the outbreak. According to the 9 May government statement, WHO had recorded eight cases in total, comprising six confirmed cases and two suspected cases, after one previously suspected case was ruled out by testing. Three British nationals were among those eight cases: two confirmed and one suspected. The two confirmed British cases were in hospital, one in South Africa and one in the Netherlands, while the suspected British case had disembarked on Tristan da Cunha and was being supported and monitored by island health services.
The 9 May statement said none of the British nationals still on board the MV Hondius were reporting symptoms, but all were under close observation. The 8 May update, citing the Spanish Health Ministry, said the ship was expected to dock in Tenerife on Sunday 10 May, and the 9 May statement repeated that timetable. Under the published plan, all passengers and crew were to undergo further medical checks before disembarkation. British passengers and crew who were not displaying symptoms were then to be escorted by UK government staff to the airport for a dedicated charter flight back to the UK. The 8 May statement said that flight would be for British ship passengers and crew only and would be provided free of charge.
UKHSA said the repatriation process would operate under formal infection prevention and control arrangements from Tenerife to the UK. Passengers, crew and clinical teams travelling on the flight were to wear personal protective equipment, including face masks, during transfer and transit, while public health and infectious disease specialists from UKHSA and the NHS were due to travel on board. On arrival in the UK, returnees were to be moved on dedicated transport to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral. The 9 May statement said clinical assessment and testing would be carried out as a precaution. During the first 72 hours, public health specialists would decide whether individuals could continue isolation at home or would need to isolate at another suitable location, based on their living arrangements. The government said it was working with UKHSA and the NHS to ensure returning nationals received appropriate care and support.
The government also set out a longer monitoring period. All British passengers and crew from the MV Hondius were to be asked to isolate for up to 45 days after return, with UKHSA providing monitoring, support and testing where needed. Across all three updates, the central public message remained unchanged: the risk to the general public in the UK was very low. In practice, the arrangements combine escorted transport, clinical review and household-based isolation decisions, rather than relying only on advice issued at the border. The structure described by UKHSA places the first stage of risk management in a controlled clinical setting before any decision is taken on home isolation.
Tracing work had already begun for people who may have been exposed and had since travelled onward. UKHSA said follow-up was under way for contacts who had returned to the UK or were in UK Overseas Territories. The 6 May update also said UKHSA was working with the Home Office and Border Force to identify people who may have been on the same flight as a confirmed case so that public health risk assessments and precautionary measures could be put in place. The 8 May statement added detail on British nationals who had already left the ship. UKHSA said it was aware of seven British nationals who disembarked at St Helena on 24 April. Two had returned to the UK independently and were isolating at home without symptoms, four remained in St Helena, and a seventh individual had been traced outside the UK.
The response described by the FCDO and UKHSA was international and multi-agency. The 8 May statement said FCDO and UKHSA teams on the ground would be supported by a Rapid Deployment Team sent from the UK, while consular teams had been stood up across multiple countries. Government departments were also working with the cruise operator and the governments of overseas territories visited by the ship. Operational support had already extended beyond consular arrangements. The 8 May statement said the Ministry of Defence, working with UKHSA, had sent diagnostic supplies including PCR tests to Ascension Island on 7 May by military aircraft. Earlier, on 6 May, UKHSA said three people, including one British national with suspected hantavirus, had been evacuated from the ship for medical care in the Netherlands through co-ordination between the governments of Cape Verde, the UK and the Netherlands.
UKHSA's risk communication has been consistent across the three statements. On 6 May, Dr Meera Chand said support, isolation and contact tracing arrangements were being put in place to limit the risk of onward transmission. On 8 and 9 May, Professor Robin May said established infection control measures would be applied at every stage of the repatriation process and, in the 9 May statement, asked the media to respect the privacy of passengers and their families. The clinical background set out by UKHSA explains why the government has taken a controlled approach. Hantavirus refers to a group of rodent-borne viruses spread through contaminated droppings and urine, with illness ranging from mild flu-like symptoms to severe respiratory disease. UKHSA said human infections are rare and that most hantaviruses do not spread easily between people, although person-to-person transmission has been observed with some strains. WHO, according to the 6 May update, is leading the international response and advising on measures to limit spread on board the ship.