Man, 69, is in intensive care in Johannesburg, while expedition guide Martin Anstee, 56, receiving care in Netherlands
Two Britons who were medically evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship are improving, global health officials have said.
A British passenger, understood to be a 69-year-old man, was taken to South Africa on 27 April and is receiving care at a private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Another Briton, Martin Anstee, 56, an expedition guide, was taken off the MV Hondius on Wednesday and flown to the Netherlands to receive specialist medical care.
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, from the World Health Organization (WHO), said two patients – known to include a Briton – remained in hospital in the Netherlands and another Briton was in intensive care in South Africa.
She told a WHO press briefing: “I am very happy to say the patient in South Africa is doing better, and the two patients in the Netherlands we hear are stable. So that is actually very good news.”
As of Thursday there are eight suspected cases, five confirmed by lab tests as hantavirus, a rare family of viruses carried by rodents.
The outbreak, linked to three deaths, has been connected to a birdwatching trip to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay that two of the passengers went on before boarding the ship.
Spanish authorities have given permission for the ship to anchor in the Canary Islands, despite concerns from locals and officials, and the boat left the shores of Cape Verde at 3.15pm local time on Wednesday, the tour operator Oceanwide Expeditions said.
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