20 Brits are beginning 45 days of self-isolation in the UK after being evacuated from a cruise ship hit by hantavirus.
Twenty people are isolating at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, after their chartered flight from Tenerife landed at Manchester Airport on Sunday May 10.
They will stay there for 72 hours, before being asked to self-isolate for a further 42 days at home.
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The news comes after 3 people have died following the outbreak on the MV Hondius, including two whom the World Health Organisation has confirmed had hantavirus.
Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that all of the evacuees are "healthy and asymptomatic".
Two British nationals, who are being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa, also have confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, an American and French national who returned to their home countries after leaving the ship have also tested positive for the virus, according to local authorities.
Most strains of hantavirus, a group of viruses carried by rodents, do not pass from person to person, but the Andes strain identified in a number of people who had been on the Dutch cruise ship does.
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Twenty-two British nationals were still aboard the ship when it docked in the Canary Islands on Sunday. Two are dual nationals, with one travelling to the US and one to Australia.
Some could be seen clad in blue protective gear as they were bussed from the Granadilla de Abona port to Tenerife South Airport.
They were tested for hantavirus before getting on the flight.
Rhe UKHSA said in a statement: "The UK Government has worked with international partners to ensure the safe return of all remaining British nationals on board the MV Hondius, with passengers now safely transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital."
Hantavirus is a group of viruses carried by rodents, found in some areas of Europe, Africa and Asia.
While most hantaviruses do not pass from person to person, the Andes virus strain does.
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People usually become infected by breathing in air contaminated with virus particles from rodent urine, droppings, or saliva.
Transmission between people occurs only through close contact.
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Symptoms of hantavirus infection can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or shortness of breath.
In some cases, people develop severe breathing difficulties or low blood pressure and kidney failure, requiring hospital care.
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