The ship, the MV Hondius, was preparing to travel from Cape Verde towards Europe on Wednesday after the Spanish government gave permission for it to dock in the Canary Islands.

The presentation seen by Reuters said tests done by South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) revealed that the Andes strain was the cause of infection in a Dutch woman who died in Johannesburg, and a British man who is still in hospital. Both had become ill on the ship. 

"This is the only strain that is known to cause human to human transmission, but such transmission is very rare and as said earlier, only happens due to very close contact," it said.

Other strains of hantavirus are more commonly transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva.

On Tuesday, two seriously ill crew members on a cruise ship stricken by a deadly hantavirus outbreak will be evacuated via Cape Verde to the Netherlands, allowing the vessel to sail on to Spain's Canary Islands, the operator said.

Spain's health ministry said the ship was due to arrive in the Canaries in "three to four days" but did not specify the port.

"Once there, the crew and passengers will be duly examined, cared for, and transferred to their respective countries," it said.

The health ministry said the World Health Organization had explained that the Canary Islands were "the closest place with the necessary capabilities" medically.

The MV Hondius has been at the centre of an international health scare since Saturday, when the WHO was informed that the rare disease -- usually spread from infected rodents typically through urine, droppings and saliva -- was suspected of being behind the deaths of three of its passengers.

As others fell ill, passengers and crew have been in isolation after Cape Verde authorities barred the ship from docking.

The ship is anchored just off the island nation's capital Praia.

The Dutch operator Oceanwide Expeditions indicated Tuesday that a solution was in sight, with plans to evacuate two sick crew members to the Netherlands for "urgent medical care", along with a third person who had been in close contact with a German passenger who died on Saturday.

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