The patient is on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, which was visited by the cruise ship in April.

The World Health Organization said the risk to the wider public was low but added that limited human-to-human transmission had been reported in some strains of the virus.

The United National health agency added that there are five other suspected cases and that further investigations are ongoing.

Eight suspected cases of hantavirus have now been linked to the luxury cruise ship