A third British national has been diagnosed with suspected hantavirus on the remote island territory of Tristan da Cunha, the UK Health Security Agency has confirmed, as health officials scramble to track the outbreak linked to a cruise ship in the South Atlantic.
The virus is the Andes strain, the only known hantavirus capable of limited human-to-human transmission. Spread requires close, prolonged contact, typically among family members or people sharing confined spaces like cruise cabins. The World Health Organization says the wider public health risk remains low.
Eight cases have been reported so far, including three deaths. Five of the eight have been confirmed as hantavirus . One of the deceased, a 69-year-old Dutch woman, left the MV Hondius when it stopped at St Helena on April 24 and travelled to South Africa, where she died two days later. Her husband died on board the vessel on April 11. A German woman also died on board.
The incubation period for hantavirus can last up to eight weeks, meaning additional cases could still emerge . Passengers who disembarked before the outbreak was identified are being traced across multiple countries.
Symptoms include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and shortness of breath. There is no specific treatment or vaccine; supportive hospital care is the only option . The fatality rate for severe hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is about 40 percent .
Are Nigerians at risk?
The short answer is no direct risk from this cruise ship outbreak. But health experts say Nigeria should pay attention to the wider threat of rodent-borne diseases.
The Andes virus is native to South America, where the cruise ship began its journey in Argentina. It has not been detected in Nigeria or West Africa. The primary risk factor for hantavirus anywhere is contact with infected rodents or their droppings, not travel to outbreak zones.
However, Nigeria already battles Lassa fever, another rodent-borne viral disease, with thousands of suspected cases reported annually, particularly during the dry season . The same environmental conditions that drive Lassa fever, poverty, poor housing, overcrowding, improper waste disposal, and rodent infestation, could also make the country vulnerable to other zoonotic threats.
Public health physician Dr Adaeze Okonkwo told Science Nigeria: “In many communities, people store food in unsafe conditions, dispose of waste improperly and live in overcrowded environments where rodents thrive. These conditions increase exposure to several rodent-borne diseases, not just Lassa fever” .
While hantavirus is not spreading in Nigeria, experts say the outbreak is a wake-up call. Strengthening environmental sanitation, rodent control, and disease surveillance are essential to prevent future threats, especially as climate change worsens flooding, which displaces rodents and pushes them closer to human settlements.
The WHO has stated clearly: “This is not the start of a pandemic. This is not Covid” . The virus does not spread through everyday activities such as walking in public spaces or brief social contact. Only those with close, prolonged exposure to an infected person are at risk.
For now, the danger remains contained to the cruise ship and its contacts. But for a country like Nigeria, where rodents are a part of daily life, vigilance is never wasted.
