Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a coordinated UK response to a serious hantavirus outbreak affecting British nationals aboard the MV Hondius. The UK Health Security Agency is leading the response in partnership with the World Health Organization, while the Foreign Office is working urgently to support the agency’s overseas efforts. Consular staff are in direct contact with passengers on the ship and a crisis response centre has been operating for several days to provide assistance 24/7. Ministers are coordinating with Dutch and Spanish counterparts and other countries to facilitate medical evacuations and to bring British nationals home safely. The Overseas Territories of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena and Ascension Island are also receiving support. The risk to the UK population is very low, and hantaviruses are rarely transmitted between people.
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