Spanish authorities are preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials will perform careful evacuations. The vessel is expected to reach the Spanish island of Tenerife on Saturday or Sunday.

The United States and the British government have agreed to send planes to repatriate their citizens from the cruise ship, with at least three passengers having died and several others sick.

The World Health Organisation says the risk to the wider public from the outbreak is low, with hantavirus usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and not easily transmitted between people.

Health authorities across four continents are tracking down and monitoring passengers who disembarked the ship before the deadly outbreak was detected, with a third British national suspected of having the hantavirus on a remote British overseas territory in the South Atlantic.

The court and health authorities have not announced the next steps, but the evacuation process is expected to be completed by the end of the weekend, with the Spanish government and other authorities closely monitoring the situation.