Australia has extended the quarantine period for passengers repatriated from a Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship following a hantavirus outbreak.

Health Minister Mark Butler announced on Thursday that the isolation for six people will now last a total of 42 days, until 23 June.

Four Australian citizens, a permanent resident, and one New Zealand resident have been held at a facility near Perth, Western Australia, since their return on 15 May.

Their initial release date of 5 June was pushed back after advice from health authorities.

“The passengers have been informed about the advice and the decision of government,” Mr Butler said.

“I’m happy to say they remain well.”

The passengers were taken to the Perth facility after an outbreak on board the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde.

Hantavirus was reported in at least 11 passengers and three people died.

The virus is primarily transmitted through contact with rodent urine, droppings, and saliva.

It can lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a potentially fatal disease which sees the lungs fill with fluid.

Oceanwide Expeditions, which operates the MV Hondius, said on Tuesday that the ship is undergoing further cleaning in Rotterdam, on the advice of the GGD local health authority.

It will then return to its home port in nearby Vlissingen in the southern Netherlands.

British patients return home

A British national was treated for the virus in the Netherlands and was medically evacuated back to the UK earlier this week.

The individual is now adhering to stringent infection prevention and control measures, according to the Health Security Agency (HSA).

Meanwhile, six other people linked to the hantavirus outbreak have left hospital to continue their isolation at home, health officials have said.

Passengers from the cruise ship were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for checks and an initial isolation period earlier this month.

The people isolating at home and those who remain in hospital are being closely monitored, the HSA said.

The site at Arrowe Park Hospital was last used as an isolation facility at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

Some 19 British nationals were listed as passengers on the MV Hondius and there were four British crew members.