Health

When you’re feeling unwell, ‘preparing’ what to say to your GP is usually the last thing on your mind – you need to run the gauntlet with the surgery’s booking system first. 

But according to Dr Dean Eggitt, a leading GP with more than two decades’ experience, arriving for your appointment – be it in person or on the phone – with a thorough knowledge of what is ailing you and when it began can have a huge impact.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s not the patient’s job to have rehearsed and have a brilliant script – getting that information is my job as a GP, so the patient doesn’t have to think.

‘But telling us everything we need to know from the start makes our job a whole lot easier and it leaves our brain freer to think of the problem that’s actually happening.

‘Being a GP is harder than people think it is. People think that we’re treating toenail infections, waterworks, earaches… but actually the job is sifting through them to find out which patient is dying, identify them, and treat them.’ 

His comments come amid a spate of fresh examples of Britons who have tragically died after failing to have their health concerns taken seriously by medical professionals, or discovered they are facing a life–limiting disease after being repeatedly fobbed off.

Earlier this week, an inquest heard how a 20–year–old law student was labelled a ‘time–waster’ and tragically died after being misdiagnosed with gastroenteritis, and a mother, 41, is facing an uncertain future after her GP dismissed her as having a UTI 21 times – when in reality it was stage four cancer. 

With this in mind, Dr Eggitt shares five ways to ensure you’re getting the most from your GP appointment – and how to make sure your concerns are taken seriously.  

A leading GP has shared his advice for making the most of your doctor’s appointment 

Get a mid–morning appointment 

Last year official NHS statistics revealed a total of 7.6million patients faced a delay of more than four weeks across September, October and November – up 312,112 (4.2 per cent) on the same months in 2024. 

With GP appointments often as hard to get hold of as Glastonbury tickets, finding out there’s a peak time of day to get advice about your health can feel like a kick in the teeth. 

‘We’re human beings,’ explains Dr Eggitt. ‘If we’re tired, hungover, had an argument with our spouse or hungry, we will clinically perform less than we are able to.

‘The peak time to get a decent clinical review is mid morning. 

‘If you see me the end of the day, you’re not going to get the best out of me. If you see me first thing in the morning and I’m stressed, tired, overworked, you’re not going to get the best out of me.’

He added: ‘If you can’t get an appointment and you’re stuck with the end of the day slot because that’s all you can get, you’re already on the losing foot. The GP will likely be exhausted, you‘re not going to get the best out of them at that point.

‘It’s incredibly mentally taxing being a GP – say I see 10 sore throats in a day, I’ve got to spot the one that could be cancer.’

And, if you’re worried that you won’t get the same level of care from a telephone consultation as you would a face-to-face consultation, Dr Eggitt says that doctors can glean just as much from them. 

‘You can actually gain quite a lot of information from a patient over the telephone when they don’t think you can,’ he said. 

‘I can tell that you’re alert, you’re engaging, you’re not confused and I can listen to your breathing.

‘There’s a lot that I can get over the telephone that I’m not asking you about, so you don’t know I’m getting the information. 

‘From practice over time, and listening to patients, you can assess them quite well over the telephone, and you can spot the patient you need to see in the flesh.’ 

Come prepared

The average GP appointment lasts just ten minutes, which isn’t long to explain what is ailing you and for your practitioner to sift through your symptoms, diagnose you and come up with a treatment plan. 

That’s why arriving ready and willing to talk can make your time in the doctor’s office much more fruitful. 

An insider secret about GPs, they use a framework called ‘ICE’ which stands for ‘ideas, concerns, and expectations’ to silently assess their patients.

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So, it can be very helpful – and speed things up – if a patient comes ready to explain what they think is going on, why it is bothering them and what they hope to achieve from the appointment. 

For instance, you might have a sore throat, be worried it’s cancer and would like a scan. 

‘When I understand the patient’s ideas, concerns, and expectations, I can often address the patient’s needs, and then the patient leaves the consultation feeling happier,’ said Dr Eggitt. 

‘So, as a patient, when you’re rehearsing your script to go in to see your GP, be clear about it; “This is what I think is going on, this is what I’m concerned about, and this is what I’m hoping we can do today”.

‘Giving short, sweet answers and getting to the point makes the GP’s job a whole lot easier.’ 

Similarly, remember that your GP isn’t privy to your social calendar – so when they ask how long you’ve had symptoms, be precise with dates – ‘since I came back from holiday’ won’t mean anything to them.  

Don’t rely on Jess’ Rule 

Jess’ Rule is a system which calls for family doctors to think again if a patient has had three appointments for their symptoms with no diagnosis. 

The rule is named after 27-year-old Jessica Brady, who underwent surgery 20 times before she passed away in 2020.

Under the rule, doctors are encouraged to consider a second opinion, see patients face-to-face for physical examinations, or order more tests – but it shouldn’t be used as a fail-proof safety net, said Dr Eggitt. 

‘When you request a second opinion, you’re not necessarily going to get one,’ he explained. 

‘It depends upon resources and access. So, let’s, for example, say that you’re registered with a single-handed practitioner. How on earth are you going to get a second opinion if there is only one doctor at the surgery? 

Dr Dean Eggitt spoke to the Daily Mail about how to get the most from your GP appointment

‘From a consultant perspective, I can write to the hospital, and often when I say, “I would like a second opinion, please”, they just write back and say, “No, we agree with the first opinion, and we’re not going to see the patient”. 

‘Just because the government says this should happen doesn’t mean to say the NHS will deliver.’ 

Dr Eggitt is also keen to stress that Jess’ Rule is not the right to a second opinion, it’s a right to requesting a second opinion.

‘I’m just really keen that people don’t overly rely upon it as their safety net, because it’s not actually that great, although it has been brilliantly publicised,’ he added. 

AI can help… as long as you have an open-minded GP 

Over the past 18 months, ‘Dr Google’ has been replaced with ‘Professor AI Chatbot’. 

Entering your symptoms and test results into an AI platform can provide useful insight into what is going on inside your body, and taking this research to your appointment is often appreciated by many GPs – including Dr Eggitt. 

‘I love it when my patients say what they’ve Googled, because I want to know their ideas and concerns and expectations, and Google tells me that that’s exactly what they’re telling me. So that cuts to the chase, it’s brilliant. 

‘But if I am a GP with a big ego, or who’s anxious about myself, I might feel inferior to AI and feel threatened and start to put the patient at an arm’s distance. 

‘That is one of the things doctors should never do, but that’s the reality, because we’re humans.’ 

Remember the limitations of the NHS 

With a surge in private diagnostic testing and personal understanding about health and wellness issues, more people than ever are trying to prevent themselves from falling unwell – which is not how the NHS is set up. 

Despite former health secretary Wes Streeting’s claims that the health service would be moving towards a ‘preventative model’, this will take time – and investment – so at present it is more focussed on treating the sick. 

This can prove to be a sticking point if you want to be tested for conditions which you currently have no symptoms of. 

‘The problem is that we have millions of patients whom, if we encourage to go get blood tests and talk to their GPs, the NHS simply won’t be able to cope,’ says Dr Eggitt. 

‘The NHS is trying to find people who are sick and not coping and fix them. If you go hunting for trouble, we don’t have the capacity to cope with it.’

At 1am in an emergency room, brought in by ambulance with a suspected heart attack, a nurse glanced at my chart and dismissed my pain with four words.

‘You look just fine.’

I’m sitting in a wheelchair in the Regional Hospital Emergency Room. It’s May 2025. My blood pressure is dangerously high. I have crushing pain in my chest, pins and needles shooting down my left arm, and I’ve been struggling to breathe properly for hours before finally calling for help.

But because my ECG doesn’t immediately show a heart attack, I’m left waiting.

Seven hours in a wheelchair. Not even a trolley available.

Every part of my body is aching, while a sharp pain grips my chest so tightly I genuinely wonder whether people are simply waiting for someone to collapse before being seen.

The nurse doesn’t mean to hurt me when she says those words. She’s busy. I look composed enough. But what she cannot see is the sheer effort it takes to stay upright.

The breathwork.

The mindfulness.

The constant internal dialogue trying to stop my nervous system from spiralling.

What she cannot see is that for the past seven years, I have lived with Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) – often called ‘the suicide disease’ because the pain is considered one of the most severe known to medicine.

Michele Roys has lived with the disease Trigeminal Neuralgia for seven years

Imagine electric shocks exploding through your face while it simultaneously feels like someone is cutting it open with a knife.

Burning.

Lightning shocks.

Stabbing pain.

Sometimes more than 50 or 100 attacks a day.

There are moments where I can be mid-conversation and suddenly have to stop speaking completely. I gently place my hand against my face and focus on breathing while trying not to panic. Often, my children can only hear me moaning through the pain while I hum or vibrate my voice, trying to calm my vagus nerve enough for the attack to pass.

The nerve affected by TN

And because none of this is visible from the outside, people assume you’re fine.

Eventually, after further testing, I’m diagnosed with costochondritis – inflammation in the cartilage connecting my ribs to my sternum, a condition that can mimic a heart attack almost perfectly.

Another painful, invisible condition to add to the list.

Alongside TN, I also live with fibromyalgia and chronic Lyme disease. I am a pot full of issues. But the reality is that chronic illness slowly changes every area of your life.

What people don’t understand is that you are not faking illness.

You are faking wellness.

You smile.

You push through.

You try not to talk about the pain too much because you don’t want to become ‘the sick person’ nobody wants to be around.

Before all of this, I had a twenty-year career in global leadership roles across ten countries and four continents.

I was constantly travelling, juggling projects, pushing myself, always saying yes to one more thing.

Then my body said no.

Abruptly, without an invitation, it just took over.

As the years passed and the pain spread throughout my body, I slowly realised the old version of me was not coming back.

That grief is hard to explain unless you’ve lived it.

You mourn your spontaneity.

Your independence.

Your energy.

I miss being able to go on a hike without calculating the recovery cost afterwards. I miss saying yes to dinner with friends without wondering whether it will take me two days or two weeks to recover.

I miss not having to mentally measure every outing against the amount of energy left in my body.

At one point, even brushing my teeth or washing my hair became difficult. Talking could trigger attacks. Wind against my face could trigger attacks. Eating could trigger attacks.

In the beginning, I isolated myself badly because I never knew when the next shock would come.

And yet somehow, people would still say: ‘But you look great’.

There’s also a strange humiliation that comes with invisible illness.

Using a mobility scooter on family days out so I can preserve enough energy to actually stay present with my children. Requesting airport assistance while looking ‘healthy’. Watching people silently judge you because your disability doesn’t look the way they expect it to.

That kind of judgment chips away at you.

There was a point in those early years where I truly understood why TN is called the suicide disease. I remember lying there wondering if this was how the rest of my life would feel.

What pulled me through was my faith, my family, and my two boys.

Slowly, I started rebuilding my life through tiny steps.

Making my bed became an achievement. I would make one side, lie down to rest, then make the other. Afterwards, I would lie on top of the finished bed and think: at least I managed something today.

It sounds ridiculous until your body stops cooperating with you.

Those tiny wins became survival.

That experience eventually led me to write my book, But You Look Just Fine: My Journey to Rediscover Joy Amidst Chronic Pain and Invisible Illness, which recently won the International Impact Book Award for Health and Chronic Pain.

I didn’t write it because I had everything figured out. I wrote it because I wanted people living with invisible illness to feel less alone.

Around 35 per cent of people in Ireland live with chronic illnesses

In Ireland, around 35 per cent of people live with chronic illness, many of them invisible.

Which means that every day, people are walking around carrying pain you cannot see.

The colleague smiling through exhaustion.

The mother pretending she’s okay.

The person forcing themselves through another workday while silently counting the minutes until they can lie down again.

We never truly know what someone is carrying.

And sometimes, the people who ‘look fine’ are fighting the hardest battles of all.

To you, dear reader – remember you are not alone. Your circumstances do not define you. You are worthy of love, joy and health. Keep believing, and find your joy in the storms you are facing. Small, tiny steps forward.

I believe in you.

Love,

Michele Roys

When the NHS letter inviting women for their smear test drops through the letterbox every five years, it’s not exactly a moment for celebration.

For many, the intimate test – offered to those aged 25 to 64 – may well be only a mildly discomforting experience, but one they feel is necessary. After all, the tests are thought to prevent 5,000 deaths from cervical cancer every year.

But for others – perhaps menopausal women whose tissues have thinned, those with conditions such as endometriosis where scar tissue may lie near the cervix, as well as victims of sexual violence – the fear of the smear is very real.

In fact, according to the NHS, nearly a third of those eligible, around 4.6 million women, have missed their latest test.

The most common reason is embarrassment, according to a 2022 survey of 3,000 women by the Department of Health And Social Care (42 per cent gave this explanation). A further 28 per cent cited fear of it being painful.

Now it’s hoped that this figure will drop as NHS England begins sending out DIY self-sampling kits in the coming months to women who are six months overdue for a test or who have never attended.

A self-sample test is less invasive than an in-person test, which involves the vaginal walls being held open with a speculum. Instead, the home kits contain a long, soft swab – similar to a long cotton bud – along with instructions, a test tube to place the swab in and a discreet pre-paid envelope to post it back to a lab.

Like a smear test done by a clinician, the DIY test does not look for cancer itself, but instead checks for the human papillomavirus (HPV), which may lead to cancer over time.

However, unlike traditional tests, where the nurse takes a sample of cells from the actual cervix (the opening of the womb, which can be anywhere between 3in to 6in deep inside), women taking the home tests will not need to be as precise, simply using the swab to take a sample from the walls of the vagina.

For many, the intimate test – offered to those aged 25 to 64 – may well be only a mildly discomforting experience, but one they feel is necessary

The most common reason among those who have missed their last smear test is embarrassment at 42 per cent, while a further 28 per cent cited fear of it being painful

Dr Sangeeta Khinder, a consultant gynaecologist at The Whittington Hospital and London Gynaecology clinic, explains: ‘Home HPV tests don’t need to sample directly from the cervix because HPV is shed from cervical cells into the vaginal canal.

‘And modern molecular testing is now sensitive enough to detect the virus from less invasive vaginal samples.’

The NHS cervical screening programme used to involve collecting cells from the cervix and ‘smearing’ them on a glass plate to study for pre-cancerous changes – hence the name.

But today, those samples are placed into a tube of liquid. If the cervical cells collected show signs of HPV infection, they are then examined for early signs of abnormal changes that could develop into cancer.

‘That second step is important because not all HPV infections lead to cancer,’ says Dr Khinder. ‘Identifying cell changes helps us distinguish between transient infections and those that are progressing toward disease.’

Accordingly, if the new home test detects HPV, women will then be called for a follow-up test, in which a cell sample is collected in the traditional way.

However, the hope is the new kits will spare many women this step, encouraging them to keep up to date with screening.

‘For some women, traditional cervical screening can be uncomfortable or painful,’ says Dr Khinder. ‘This is particularly true in conditions such as endometriosis, vaginismus or significant pelvic pain disorders, where the tissues are more sensitive.

‘Vaginal dryness, common after the menopause, can contribute. Not having had children can sometimes make it feel more uncomfortable, as the vagina may be tighter, but this varies between individuals. Anxiety and prior negative experiences can also amplify discomfort.’

The tests – both clinical and DIY – look for 14 strains of HPV which cause almost all cervical cancers, a disease that kills around 700 women a year.

Results from the home kits will arrive in two to three weeks and are said to be reliable.

Crucially, research has shown it’s an effective way of reaching those who would not otherwise attend screening.

‘The decision to send out these kits follows strong evidence from two major trials which demonstrated the potential to boost cervical screening uptake by up to 400,000 women per year in England,’ says Sophie Brooks, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, which helped fund one of the trials. ‘Many face barriers which mean they might not attend a clinician- based cervical screening – embarrassment, fear of pain, cultural sensitivities or maybe just difficulty in fitting in the appointments around day-to-day life.

While the new NHS tests are free, private self-sampling tests have been available for a while

‘Evidence shows that self-sampling can help reduce some of these barriers and help them take part in a life-saving programme that works for them. We’re really excited about it.’

Dr Khinder emphasises that screening is designed to be repeated – ‘not a one-off test’.

‘No screening test is perfect,’ she says. ‘HPV testing is highly sensitive for detecting the strains most strongly linked to cervical cancer, but it doesn’t pick up every possible case.

‘The key point is that when detected early through screening, outcomes are excellent, which is why participation in these programmes is so important.’

Early-stage cervical cancer can often be treated very effectively with surgery, sometimes preserving fertility. Chemotherapy or radiotherapy may be needed when the disease is more advanced.

Cervical screening is still necessary, even for women who have been vaccinated against HPV.

The first HPV vaccine in the UK was rolled out for girls aged 12 to 13 in 2008 and extended to boys in 2019. Adults aged 25 to 45 can access the vaccine through private clinics for around £200 per dose, with two to three required.

‘The HPV vaccination – depending on when people had it – protects against strains 6 and 11, which are most responsible for genital warts,’ says Helen Hyndman, a nurse at gynaecological charity The Eve Appeal. ‘But also strains 16 and 18, which are responsible for around 70 per cent of cervical cancers.

‘If you’ve had the vaccine more recently [since 2012] you will also be protected against seven of the high-risk strains of HPV. But that still leaves several that you’re not protected against, which is why we test for all 14.’

While the new NHS tests are free, private self-sampling tests have been available for some time. Writer Leah Hardy, 62, a married mother-of-two from north London, has used them for ten years.

‘I have always found conventional smear tests inconvenient, undignified and painful,’ she says.

‘It used to be agonising, probably because I have endometriosis with internal scarring. So the moment self-sampling became available, I used them instead.

‘I pay around £50 from my local chemist and, frankly, I have no idea why any woman would opt for the awful rigmarole of a speculum when you can use a wand as slim as a Covid swab in the privacy of your own home.’

Leah adds: ‘I’ve heard women say they wouldn’t use a home test because they’re scared of “getting it wrong” or because they’d “need a mirror” to see their cervix. But you don’t actually need to touch the cervix.

‘The one downside is that NHS GPs refuse to accept the results of private tests, so still nag you about going in for screening. It’s hopelessly out-of-date thinking.’

Dr Khinder says it’s not that GPs dismiss such private tests outright, but that NHS screening follows a specific, quality-assured pathway. ‘NHS cervical screening isn’t just the test – it’s an entire safety system,’ she says.

‘Every sample is processed in accredited labs, results are quality-checked, and patients are automatically recalled and followed up if needed.

‘Even if the result of a private test is accurate, it may not meet the same standards of documentation, traceability, and automatic recall. This means the NHS can’t rely on it, so patients are often asked to repeat the test within the screening programme.’

The Ebola outbreak surging in multiple African countries is ‘likely far worse’ than official reports make it seem, health experts have warned. 

New York-based aid group the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned Monday that response efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicenter of an ongoing Ebola outbreak, are struggling due to delayed detection and low levels of contact tracing. 

The outbreak, caused by the rare and incurable Bundibugyo variant, is now behind more than 1,000 suspected cases and over 200 suspected deaths in the DRC, according to the country’s Ministry of Health. Of those, 282 cases and 42 deaths have been confirmed. 

A growing number of cases have also been detected in neighboring Uganda and South Sudan and patients are under observation in Italy and Brazil. An American who tested positive for the virus was evacuated for treatment to Germany. 

The variant, which has no current treatments or vaccines, kills up to 50 percent of those infected.

The first Ebola cases in the current outbreak were confirmed in late April, but the IRC suspects the disease may have been spreading undetected since before March and potentially as long as three months before the epidemic was declared in mid-May. 

Rachel Howard, senior technical emergency health advisor at the IRC, estimated only about 20 percent of contacts are currently being traced, which means health authorities are struggling to find new sources of transmission. 

The IRC notes that cases may spread to other countries neighboring the DRC such as Burundi.  

Officials have warned the Ebola outbreak surging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is ‘likely far worse’ than current estimates state. Pictured above are physicians with Doctors Without Borders providing medical care to a patient in the DRC

‘IRC teams warn that shortages of diagnostic cartridges and testing backlogs are slowing confirmation of cases, further obscuring the true spread of the outbreak,’ Howard said in a statement.

She notes at least six healthcare workers have died, including two doctors in recent days, and many residents are avoiding health facilities. This raises fears that those infected with Ebola are remaining in vulnerable communities rather than seeking treatment.

‘As a result, transmission is spreading across multiple areas, and communities are losing trust in the response,’ she said. ‘Strengthening local, community-based prevention and infection control should be the immediate priority to control the outbreak at the source. 

‘Without urgent funding, the situation could deteriorate rapidly.’

As the outbreak surges, the US is requiring Americans arriving from the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan to reroute their travel to arrive in one of four airports for enhanced screening: John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City, Washington Dulles International Airport outside of Washington DC, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

Last week, health officials in Kenya shot down the White House’s plan to quarantine Americans exposed to Ebola in the country, stating the plans could not continue until petitions against them were heard. Hearings are scheduled for Tuesday.

Estimates suggest that up to 5,000 Americans are in the DRC, although it is not clear how many are in Uganda and South Sudan. 

Health workers are pictured putting on protective equipment at the Evangelical Medical Center in Bunia, Ituri province, DRC (file photo)

Dr Peter Stafford, an American medical missionary doctor, became infected with the Bundibugyo virus while stationed in the DRC and was evacuated to Charité Hospital in Germany.

During a press conference last week, health officials said Stafford is weak but is not critically ill. Officials said he has not required intensive care and has not suffered organ failure, and his viral counts are decreasing with antiviral medications. 

Stafford is being treated in a fully isolated ward and can see his family only through a window. The officials added that his wife, Dr Rebekah Stafford, has tested negative for Ebola and remains symptom-free, but the family is being quarantined in a separate section of the unit.

The CDC has a level 3 travel advisory in place for the DRC, which advises Americans to ‘reconsider nonessential travel’ to the country’s Ituri, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu provinces. 

Ebola spreads through contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person, as well as contact with contaminated objects or infected animals such as bats or primates. 

A child from the DRC returning from school is pictured looking at awareness illustrations outside the Ebola Treatment Center in Munigi

Health workers from the International Medical Action (ALIMA) are seen putting on protective equipment in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, DRC (file photo)

Agency officials note if travel is absolutely necessary, Americans should consider getting travel insurance. They should also avoid contact with individuals showing Ebola symptoms as well as blood or other bodily fluids or objects contaminated with them. 

Travelers should also avoid contact with bats, forest antelopes, primates and blood, fluids or meat from these animals.

The CDC urges travelers to watch for symptoms of Ebola for 21 days after leaving the DRC. 

The agency has a level 2 travel advisory in place for Uganda and South Sudan, which urges travelers to ‘practice enhanced precautions.’ 

Ebola’s presence in the DRC dates back to 1976, and the latest outbreak is the 17th in the country since. 

Previous outbreaks in 2018 and 2020 in eastern Congo killed more than 1,000 people each. The largest Ebola outbreak occurred in 2014 to 2016 in West Africa when more than 28,600 cases were reported.   

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the current outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, but countries sharing borders with DRC, such as Uganda and Rwanda, are at an increased risk of further spread. 

Medical staff are pictured carrying an Ebola patient at a hospital in the DRC

A physician with Doctors Without Borders is seen during the contamination process in the DRC

Ebola symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain and weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising. 

The virus can cause serious disease and has a mortality rate as high as 90 percent without treatment. 

The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain of Ebola that has no approved treatments or vaccines. The strain has only been implicated in two other previous outbreaks, in 2007 and 2012. 

The mortality rate for the Bundibugyo virus ranges from 25 to 50 percent.  

The Zaire strain, which is the most common form of Ebola, can be treated with the drugs Inmazeb and Ebanga and the Ervebo vaccine, which is administered only during outbreaks. 

‘Unfortunately, Bundibugyo has fewer proven countermeasures than Zaire ebolavirus, where vaccines have been highly effective in controlling outbreaks,’ Amanda Rojek, Associate Professor of Health Emergencies, Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford, said in a statement. 

Two people who were being quarantined and monitored for hantavirus following an outbreak on a cruise ship are leaving the federal isolation center and returning to their homes in New York. 

One of three New Yorkers exposed to hantavirus will remain in isolation at a Nebraska hospital, where 13 people from the MV Hondius cruise ship are being monitored for symptoms of the rodent-borne disease for the full 42-day incubation period.

In total, five people have left that facility to return to their home states this week and will remain under constant monitoring at home until June 22.

The two New Yorkers leaving the Nebraska facility will be transported home on non-commercial flights and will return to their homes near New York City. 

The Andes strain of hantavirus, responsible for the cruise ship cluster, has an incubation period of 42 days. So, a person exposed to the virus may not show symptoms, which are flu-like, for nearly six weeks.

A routine cruise around South America’s polar tip turned into a public health nightmare this spring when the MV Hondius became the center of the rare hantavirus outbreak.

The ship, which departed from Argentina in early April carrying over 100 passengers and 61 crew, has since been linked to 13 confirmed cases and three deaths, including a married Dutch couple and a German national.

The Andes strain of hantavirus is a rare subtype that can spread from person to person through close contact, unlike most other hantaviruses, which require direct exposure to rodent droppings.

A passenger from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is pictured being sprayed with disinfectant on the tarmac at Tenerife South Airport in the Canary Islands, Spain, on May 10, 2026

Of the 18 American passengers exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius, most were flown to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for observation.

There, they have lived in near-total isolation in rooms resembling hotel suites complete with Wi-Fi, a television and exercise bikes, while awaiting the end of the virus’ unusually long incubation period.

None have shown symptoms, but the Andes strain’s ability to spread person-to-person, as well as the delayed onset of symptoms, has kept health officials on high alert.

On Friday, New York State Department of Health officials confirmed that two state residents who had been quarantining there were returning home.

They said the two have agreed to stay at home for the next 20 days and avoid all contact with other people.

As a further precaution, officials stated there would be ’24/7 oversight’, with monitors stationed near people’s homes.

Health officials maintain that the general risk to the public is low, with many epidemiologists saying that the virus is unlikely to cause a pandemic.

The time between exposure and when a person begins to feel sick ranges from four to 42 days.

Pictured is the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where 13 Americans exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship have been monitored for symptoms

Early symptoms include fever, fatigue and muscle aches. These can easily be mistaken for the flu, but unlike the flu, hantavirus can quickly become much more serious.

The disease can rapidly progress to severe pneumonia and difficulty breathing as the lungs fill with fluid.

Hantavirus is rare, but it is extremely dangerous. Over the last 30 years, 35 percent of hantavirus cases in the US have led to death, a much higher fatality rate than more common viruses like the flu or Covid.

In the 2018 Andes virus outbreak in Argentina, the strain believed to be behind the current cruise ship cluster infected 34 people and killed 11 of them.

There are no approved vaccines and no specific antiviral treatments proven to work against hantavirus.

Patients who become severely ill can receive oxygen, mechanical ventilation, or in the most serious cases, an ECMO machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs while the body fights the infection.

Last month, NBC News spoke with an American in isolation at the Nebraska facility who likened his stint in quarantine there to being in ‘prison.’

The 30-year-old man, who wanted to withhold his name to protect his privacy, told the outlet that he wanted to quarantine at home.

A passenger from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius is shown boarding a plane to the Netherlands at Tenerife Sur Airport. The New Yorkers returning home from quarantine will not be on commercial flights with other passengers

‘I’m held here involuntarily, so in that sense it’s a prison term, I mean, it’s a perfectly nice prison, but I’m still here involuntarily,’ he said.

It is not clear whether he is one of the quarantined passengers permitted to quarantine at home.  

The first signs of the deadly hantavirus emerged on April 6, when a Dutch man fell ill on board the MV Hondius. He was dead five days later.

His body was not removed until April 24, when the vessel docked on St Helena Island in the South Atlantic. That is when his wife also disembarked and flew to South Africa the next day, where she later died.

In the weeks that followed, 18 Americans were among those evacuated from the ship. They are now in federal quarantine.

In total, three passengers have died from the virus: the Dutch man, his wife and a German woman who died on board May 2.

Health officials believe the outbreak traces back to two passengers who may have picked up the virus during a birdwatching tour at a landfill in Argentina.