The UK has deployed a rapid response mobile laboratory to the island of St Helena following an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship, health officials have said. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday evening that three team members of the the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) had been sent to the UK overseas territories of St Helena and Ascension in the South Atlantic in response to a request for support from the island’s government. It comes after it was announced that 10 Britons from South Atlantic islands connected to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak are to be brought to the UK in case they develop the illness. The group, thought to be residents of St Helena and Ascension, are being “brought to the UK to complete their self-isolation as a precautionary measure”, the UK Health Security Agency said earlier this week. The deployed team includes two microbiologists, Clara Milroy and Kimberley Steeds, who will support with PCR testing for hantavirus as well as supporting testing to exclude other …