A man who contracted hantavirus has recalled the ‘torture’ of battling the deadly disease for three weeks in hospital.
Lorne Warburton was placed on life support after he picked up the virus in 2023.
He described the experience as ‘hell on earth’ and said the initial symptoms were similar to those frequently reported by Covid patients, including fatigue, head and body aches.
However, it soon became apparent Mr Warburton had contracted something else entirely.
Mr Warburton, from Canada, told the BBC he was ‘drenched in sweat’ and was left unable to breathe after quickly developing hantavirus symptoms.
His story comes as three British nationals have so far been confirmed with the disease following an outbreak on board the MV Hondius cruise ship.
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The UKHSA confirmed on Friday that another Brit had presented symptoms while on Tristan da Cunha in the archipelago of St Helena.
Two more suspected cases are being treated in hospital, while two British passengers are currently self-isolating in the UK after leaving the ship.
A total of seven British nationals were among the 29 passengers who left the MV Hondius when it docked in St Helena on April 24, which included a Dutch woman who died after contracting the virus.
The ship is expected to dock in Tenerife on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the UKHSA said officials would be on hand to direct British nationals to a dedicated repatriation flight.
The agency said: ‘UK government staff will be on the ground ready to support the British nationals disembarking.
‘British passengers and ship crew not displaying any symptoms of hantavirus will be escorted by UK Government staff to an airport and given free passage back to the UK.’
It added: ‘Public health and infectious disease specialists from UKHSA and the NHS will be on board to monitor British nationals whilst on the flight, to ensure that preventative measures are in place and to provide any care in the unlikely event that any passengers become unwell on the flight.’
Experts believe the incubation period for the virus can be up to six weeks, and the WHO does not anticipate the outbreak will become an epidemic.
Professor Sir Peter Horby, the director of pandemic sciences at Oxford University, said: ‘Of course, we need to investigate and carefully monitor the situation to spot any divergence from how we expect this virus to behave, but so far the virus is behaving in a way we know it can.
‘We know there can be limited person-to-person transmission following close and prolonged contact with an infected person, but that public health measures can readily stop transmission and bring the outbreak to an end.’
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