Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the prevalence of hantavirus in the UK.

The risk to the United Kingdom general population remains very low. The Andes virus, the virus associated with the outbreak linked to the MV Hondius, is typically associated with South American rodent species that are not found in the UK.

The UK’s response to this complex incident is being led by the UK Health Security Agency working closely with the World Health Organization, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Defence, the UK Devolved Governments and international partners. Collectively, they are doing everything possible to protect the safety and well-being of British nationals, and to provide reassurance to UK citizens.