UPDATE 1-South Africa says condition of British man with hantavirus is gradually improving

The condition ‌of a British ​man who was admitted to a hospital in Johannesburg after falling ‌ill with hantavirus aboard a luxury cruise ship is gradually improving, a South African health ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

"The ‌British patient is clinically improving but still ill," the ‌spokesperson Foster Mohale told Reuters. "This means his condition is improving, gradually so." The man was medically evacuated to South Africa on ⁠April ​27 after presenting ⁠with a fever, shortness of breath and signs of pneumonia. He disembarked ⁠from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius at Ascension Island ​in the Atlantic Ocean.

Hantaviruses are rodent-borne viruses that ⁠can infect people and cause illness. The strain identified on the ship ⁠is ​the Andes hantavirus, which typically circulates in Argentina and Chile. The MV Hondius set off from Argentina ⁠and was carrying mostly British, American and Spanish passengers.

Three people ⁠have died ⁠since the start of the outbreak - a Dutch couple and a German national.

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