British man hauled out of Italian bar when he was meant to be in quarantine for hantavirus

A British man in his 60s has been detained in a bar in Italy despite being under strict quarantine orders linked to the growing hantavirus outbreak connected to the MV Hondius cruise ship.

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The man and his travelling companion were apprehended in Milan before being transferred to hospital facilities at Sacco Hospital. Authorities had ordered the pair to remain in isolation until June 6 as part of a 42-day quarantine period following possible exposure to the virus.

The British man had reportedly travelled on the same flight as Mirjam Schilperoord, 69, who died after flying from St Helena to Johannesburg following infection with the disease. Mirjam was the wife of Leo Schilperoord, 70, who is believed to have contracted the virus after visiting a rubbish tip during a birdwatching excursion on a remote island in Argentina while aboard the cruise ship.

There are now 11 reported cases linked to the outbreak, nine of which have been officially confirmed. Three people have died, while a French woman remains critically ill after being placed on an artificial lung machine.

Doctors treating her described the intervention as “the final stage of supportive care”. The outbreak began aboard the MV Hondius, which departed Argentina on April 1 before later docking in Tenerife following the health emergency.

Most passengers have since been evacuated and returned to their home countries for quarantine, while only a small number of crew members and medical staff remain onboard the ship. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that additional cases could emerge in the coming weeks because of the virus’s lengthy incubation period.

Speaking at a press conference in Madrid, the World Health Organization chief said: “Of course, the situation could change. “And given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.” However, he stressed there were currently “no signs” that the outbreak posed a pandemic threat.

Hantavirus remains poorly understood despite years of scientific research. Questions remain over how effectively it spreads, how long it survives outside a host and why symptoms vary dramatically between patients. The strain linked to the outbreak is believed to be the Andes hantavirus, which is endemic to parts of South America and is regarded as the only known hantavirus strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission.

There is currently no vaccine or specific cure for hantavirus infections, although early treatment can improve survival chances. According to the World Health Organization, the Andes strain can incubate for up to eight weeks and may carry a mortality rate of up to 50%.

Hantavirus is commonly spread through exposure to infected rodent droppings, urine or saliva, earning it the nickname the “rat virus”. Early symptoms often resemble flu, including fever, chills and muscle pain, but severe cases can rapidly progress to heart or lung failure.

Stathis Giotis, a lecturer in life sciences at the University of Essex, said the situation required close monitoring but urged against panic. “It is clearly a serious situation for those directly affected and it deserves careful public health follow-up, but there is no evidence at present that this represents a broader epidemic threat,” he said.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control confirmed that the genome of the virus involved in the outbreak has now been fully sequenced. Andreas Hoefer said there was currently no indication that the virus had mutated into a more dangerous form.

“There is no data to suggest that this virus is behaving differently in terms of transmissibility or severity from any of the known virus circulating in certain regions of the world,” he said. “Based on that data, I would say that currently we have no reason to suspect that this is a new virus.”