A third case of hantavirus infection has been reported in the UK.

The British authorities have identified a third case of hantavirus infection among British citizens, the Reuters news agency reported on May 8, citing the kingdom's health security agency (UKHSA).

The media clarifies that the infection was detected in a citizen of the kingdom in the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha, an overseas territory of Great Britain in the South Atlantic.

The authors of the material remind that on April 24, seven people disembarked from the MV Hondius cruise ship to the archipelago in the South Atlantic. The UKHSA reported that two of them were placed in self—isolation in the United Kingdom, four on St. Helena, and another was found outside Britain.

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In early May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported an outbreak of hantavirus aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, en route from the Argentine port of Ushuaia to Cape Verde. At the moment, three deaths have been confirmed (a married couple from the Netherlands and a German citizen).

WHO experts have determined that the outbreak was caused by the Andes strain. This is a rare variant of hantavirus, characteristic of South America, which, unlike other species, is able to be transmitted from person to person through very close contact.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on May 7 that new cases of hantavirus infection may be detected due to the situation on the liner. He noted that the incubation period is six weeks.