- The UK has dispatched a rapid response mobile laboratory and a three-person support team to the remote South Atlantic islands of St Helena and Ascension.
- This deployment by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is in response to a hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship.
- The specialist team, comprising microbiologists and an infection prevention and control expert, will assist Jamestown General Hospital with testing, assessments, and training for eight weeks.
- Ten British residents from St Helena and Ascension, connected to the outbreak, are being repatriated to the UK as a precautionary measure for self-isolation.
- The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship has resulted in at least 11 reported cases and tragically led to three deaths, with Public Health Scotland also warning of potential contacts in Scotland.
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