TWO people are self-isolating at home in the UK after potential exposure to hantavirus on a cruise ship struck by the outbreak, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
They left MV Hondius at St Helena in April to fly back to the UK via Johannesburg.
Neither had symptoms but contacted health officials when they heard of the ship's cases. Three people have died on the ship, which set sail from Argentina a month ago, following the hantavirus outbreak.
A 56-year-old British man is in a stable condition after being evacuated from the ship on Wednesday.
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The former police officer, Martin Anstee was among three people evacuated from the ship on Wednesday to the Netherlands for treatment, operator Oceanwide Expeditions said.
Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, told BBC Breakfast it was his understanding that Anstee "is doing well".
May added: "He is going to be under investigation for some time. I'm very pleased he's now in hospital and receiving the treatment he needs."
Anstee's wife said it had been "a very dramatic few days".
She said: "He's relieved to be off the ship. He had it quite mild then it got a bit more serious and now he's stable again.
"The fear with this virus is it can deteriorate very quickly so it's been a bit up and down for him. I don't believe he's in imminent danger now but it was horrible."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said eight cases of hantavirus - three confirmed and five suspected - have so far been identified in people who were on the ship.
Officials have said that one of the three deceased had the virus, while the other two deaths are under investigation.
One of the three deaths on board include a Dutch woman who left the MV Hondius when it stopped at St Helena on April 24, and travelled to South Africa where she died two days later.
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Her husband died on board on April 11, but is not a confirmed case of hantavirus.
The third fatality, a German woman, is not a confirmed case either. Her body remains 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.
It can take between one and eight weeks for symptoms to appear.
May told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "general expert consensus is now consolidating around six weeks" for the incubation period.
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Both the WHO and the UKHSA have said the risk to the public is low. The UKHSA said there is "no need for concern among the general public".
The UKHSA said any Britons on the ship would be flown home on a charter flight, probably from the Canary Islands as long as they did not have symptoms.
They would then have to self-isolate or be put into quarantine potentially for up to six weeks, depending on the timing of their last potential exposure to the virus.
May added that those infected would be asked to self-isolate at home, but that "depends on individual circumstances".
He said his officials would be getting in touch with the contacts of anyone who may have been exposed to the virus including family members, anyone who shared rooms on the ship with them or anyone who sat next to them on a long haul flight.
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