Dutch airline KLM has confirmed that one of the Dutch nationals who died from hantavirus was briefly on board one of its aircraft.

As we've been reporting, a Dutch national died on 11 April from hantavirus. His wife accompanied his body on a flight to Johannesburg from St Helena on 24 April before her condition deteriorated on 25 April. The 69-year-old died in hospital on 26 April.

Now, KLM says the passenger was removed from the aircraft before the flight departed for Amsterdam at 23:15 local time on 25 April.

"Due to the passenger’s medical condition at the time, the crew decided not to allow the passenger to travel on the flight," a statement reads.

"The passenger sadly later passed away in Johannesburg," it says, adding that others who were on board the flight are being informed "as a precaution".

Associated Press is reporting that Argentine officials have suggested the hantavirus outbreak may have originated from a bird-watching outing in the city of Ushuaia.

In its reporting, AP says two Argentine officials have told the news agency that the Argentinian government's hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus before boarding in southern Argentina.

AP reports the Argentinian officials as exploring the couple's visit to a landfill site during the bird-watching tour, where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection.

The news agency says officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media, with the investigation ongoing.

As we've been reporting, the MV Hondius began its journey when it left Ushuaia on 1 April. The first passenger died of hantavirus ten days later on 11 April.

The BBC has not independently verified this report.

Image source, World Health Organization

We can bring you more now from a news conference from the World Health Organization (WHO), where officials earlier said they were tracing contacts of those on board the ship.

All of the confirmed hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius are "linked to the same outbreak... because it's the same virus", says Dr Marie Belizaire.

She says that samples collected from Cape Verde, South Africa and Switzerland all show the same virus is present.

Samples from Cape Verde were sent off for analysis on Tuesday and results were received on Wednesday afternoon, she adds.

Image source, Reuters

It was earlier confirmed that three people were evacuated from the MV Hondius; a 41-year-old Dutchman, a 65-year-old German and a 56-year-old Briton.

It leaves a total of 146 people on board the ship, operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed to the BBC, including a passenger who died on board on 2 May.

Prior to this, in a press update on Tuesday, Oceanwide said that there were 61 crew members and 88 passengers.

British passengers made up the highest number in Tuesday's update, with 19 on board, as well as four crew members.

Meanwhile the Philippines made up the greatest number of crew, with 38 on board.

Other nationalities listed include the USA, New Zealand, India, Belgium, Ireland and Japan, among others. In total, there are 23 different nationalities listed by the operator.

Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) are monitoring 69 close contacts of people who have been on board the ship, health official Marie Roseline Belizaire says in an online briefing.

Samples from people on board are being sent abroad and analysed, the WHO's representative in Cape Verde Ann Lindstrand tells the briefing. But you have to be "sharing a cabin or be in a couple or really being close" to be able to spread the disease from one to another, she adds.

Image source, Reuters

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the UK is working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to get British nationals on board the MV Hondius "safely home".

In a statement, Cooper says she is taking this action "with proper protection for public health" as the UKHSA works with the World Health Organization to lead the UK's response.

"The outbreak of hantavirus is very serious and deeply stressful for those affected and their families," the foreign secretary adds.

In figures released by Oceanwide Expeditions on Tuesday, 19 passengers and four crew members were listed as British.

Since then, a 56-year-old Briton has been evacuated.

Cooper says Foreign Office staff "are in direct contact" with Brits on board the vessel, while ministers are working with Dutch and Spanish counterparts to facilitate medical evacuations.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Deaths

Three people have died after travelling on the ship.

A Dutch man died on board on 11 April - it's not clear if he was infected.

His wife travelled with his body while it was being repatriated, and it was later confirmed she died of hantavirus during the journey.

A German national died on the ship on 2 May - it's unclear if they were infected.

Confirmed cases

There have been three confirmed cases of hantavirus, the World Health Organization says.

These cases are the Dutch woman who died, a British passenger in intensive care in South Africa and a Swiss passenger who is being treated in a Zurich hospital, who had earlier returned home.

Suspected cases

The WHO says there are a further five suspected cases.

Three of those were evacuated from the ship today - they are a 56-year-old British doctor, a 41-year-old Dutch crew member and a 65-year-old German, who the cruise operator says is "closely associated" with the German citizen who died on the ship on 2 May.

Two of the evacuated group are in a "serious condition", cruise ship operator Oceanwide says. Spain's health minister says the passengers who remain on the ship do not have symptoms.

What we don't know

We don't know where the outbreak originated from, and if people other than cruise ship passengers have been infected with the disease.

It has not been announced if the Dutch man and German man who died on the boat had the virus.

We also don't know what will happen to all of the passengers on the boat after they arrive in the Canary Islands. Earlier, the Spanish health minister said Spaniards will be quarantined in Madrid, but didn't give detail on everyone else.

Image source, Jake Rosmarin

More now from passengers on board the virus-hit ship, following our earlier post.

Yesterday, travel influencer Jake Rosmarin, who is on board the MV Hondius, told us that people on board are "doing well and remain in good spirits".

He said operator Oceanwide Expeditions "have been doing everything within their ability to keep passengers safe, informed and as comfortable as possible during this time".

On the ship, gathering indoors isn't allowed but access to the outer decks is, he said. Social distancing is in place, as is the use of masks. Passengers can have meals delivered to their cabins.

"It is important to note that this is not a traditional cruise ship, but an expedition vessel," Rosmarin said.

"These ships operate with strict protocols and a strong emphasis on cleanliness, especially given the remote and environmentally sensitive regions they visit, which require high levels of biosecurity.

"The vessel is maintained to a very high standard, and suggestions that it is unclean are not accurate."

Image source, EPA

The three suspected hantavirus patients who were evacuated from the cruise ship are on their way to "specialised care and medical screening", the cruise ship operator Oceanwide says in a new update.

Two of the cases are symptomatic and in a "serious condition", the statement says, but they have not tested positive for hantavirus at this time.

Earlier, the Spanish health minister said the 56-year-old British ship doctor who was evacuated this morning was "stable", having previously been "critical".

The third evacuee, currently asymptomatic, was "closely associated" with the German citizen who died on board on 2 May, the operator says.

Image source, EPA

We've just heard from the health minister and interior minister of Spain, who confirmed that the virus-hit MV Hondius will sail to the Canary Islands following this morning's evacuation of three suspected hantavirus cases.

Here are the key points from their news conference:

• Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed the 56-year-old British citizen evacuated was the ship's doctor, who is now in a "stable" condition, having previously been "critical"
• After previous plans to transport the doctor to the Canary Islands, he is instead being flown to the Netherlands, as are the other two evacuees
• All those who remain on the ship have no symptoms, said Garcia, adding the ship is en route to the Granadilla port in Tenerife where all passengers will be evacuated
• Evacuation will "avoid contact" with Canary Island citizens, she said, insisting there is "no risk" to the islands
• Spanish people will be quarantined in a defence hospital in Madrid, while people from other countries will be repatriated if they have no symptoms
• Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said Spain has both legal and ethical reasons to assist the ship - especially with Spanish citizens among those on board

Image source, Getty Images

The three patients evacuated from the MV Hondius earlier have now left Cape Verde on two air ambulances, according to an AFP journalist on the archipelago.

The planes are due to arrive in the Netherlands around 19:30 local time (17:30 GMT / 18:30 BST) according to flight trackers.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The ministers are asked by a reporter where the passengers will quarantine once they dock in Tenerife - and if the complaints by the Canary Islands' leader are justified.

The health minister, Monica Garcia, says they are activating "all the protocols" in co-ordination with Europe and the World Health Organization.

García again says Spaniards will be checked in the Canary Islands then sent to a defence hospital in Madrid where they will follow "all the necessary protocols".

People from other countries will be repatriated if they have no symptoms, and they will follow the rules of their own countries.

A journalist asks the ministers what they know about the virus and how worried they are.

García Gómez replies that it is transmitted through rodents and says this infection is "quite exceptional". There are very few cases in the world, she says.

She adds that transmission between humans is not common but it can happen, if people are in very close contact.

On the Canary Islands, she says they have been communicating with officials "at all levels" and have been in touch with health officials there, and the president.

Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is now up. He says there are more than 140 people on the ship, who he says are in need of help.

The Canary Islands is the best port for this, he says - adding the World Health Organization has asked the Spanish government for use of the port, as the health minister previously said.

He says beyond ethical issues, there are also legal considerations to the matter.

"We cannot forget that our own constitution establishes that authorities should help all of our citizens," he says.

Garcia now says, after the ship docks in the Canaries, transportation will be done "trying to avoid contact with local citizens".

The 14 Spanish people on board will be examined then taken to a military base in Madrid where they will be quarantined for "as long as needed", she says.

She says the World Health Organization asked yesterday for the Canary Islands to be used because it has "the conditions to do this with security and in order to protect health".

She insists there is "no risk" to the Canary Islands.

The Spanish health minister confirms the British citizen who has been evacuated from the cruise ship was a doctor on the ship.

She says he is now in a more "stable condition" after previously being in a "critical condition".

She says he is being evacuated to Netherlands, rather than Spain, which was previously a possibility.

Earlier, the Dutch foreign ministry confirmed a 56-year-old Briton had been evacuated from the MV Hondius.

All those remaining on the ship have no symptoms, the minister says, adding that the vessel will continue to the Canary Islands, to a "secondary port" in Tenerife.

She says all passengers will then be evacuated, before they are repatriated.

You can watch the Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia at the top of the page now - and we'll have the key lines here.

Clavijo says those on board the ship must be taken into account, and that a three-day journey from Cape Verde to the Canary Islands "does not make sense".

"If the passengers are safe and healthy, it does not make sense that they have to come to the Canary Islands to be repatriated, they could do that from the international airport of Cape Verde," he says.

"If we're thinking about the general interest of the passengers, what makes sense is to start doing this now."

A reporter asks Clavijo if Tenerife's Candelaria University Hospital would have a protocol for dealing with the disembarked passengers.

"No, there's not protocol about it, this is extremely extraordinary," he says.

As of now, he says, they don't have a request to activate this kind of protocol, and they "don't know anything".

Image source, Reuters

Canaries' President Fernando Clavijo, who is in Brussels, now says he has had no contact with the Spanish government.

They should not have excluded a region that has something to say, he says - adding that he doesn't know what the agreement is with the World Health Organization.

The health minister hasn't called me, Clavijo says. There should have at least been a conversation with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez or a representative of the Spanish government, he adds.

The people of the Canary Islands deserve "respect and transparency".

Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo - who does not want the Hondius to dock on his islands - is now speaking to the media.

He says they still don't know the status of the passengers.

They don't understand why the Spanish government agreed to let the ship dock, he says, and why people cannot disembark in Cape Verde - instead of being sent to the Canary Islands.

"We don't have new information and the only thing that we know is that there has been a request for a vessel to anchor in port in Tenerife on 9 May," he says.

Image source, Kasem Hato

On Tuesday - before the latest evacuations - Hondius passenger and travel influencer Kasem Hato shared a video online, explaining what life is like on the virus-hit ship.

In footage translated by Reuters, he says: "Our journey on the ship started from the south of Argentina and the plan was to cross the Atlantic, passing at some isolated islands to see the nature and wildlife and to conclude our journey in the country of the Cape Verde."

But he says after they arrived at their first island, a passenger's health deteriorated and he died.

Hato says they continued the voyage, but someone else began showing symptoms of hantavirus, and they stopped on Ascension Island so that person could be evacuated.

The boat continued to Cape Verde, when two more people began to feel unwell, he says. But Cape Verde "refused to medically evacuate the sick and refused our presence completely in their waters".

As for the other 150 or so passengers, he says "most people on the ship have responded to the issue very calmly".

They believe "the possibility of becoming infected by this virus is very small... it’s believed that the first person who died on the boat is the person who brought this virus onto the boat, and in one way or another, spread the infection to some of the other people on the ship".

"Ultimately, this virus is not a new virus to the world," he says. "If it was going to be a pandemic, it would have already happened a long time ago."

• Read more passengers' stories here