Investigators Link Ushuaia, Argentina To Hantavirus Outbreak Aboard MV Hondius

Ushuaia, Argentina—described as the jump-off point for expeditions to the Antarctic—has been linked by investigators to a hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius after a Dutch man developed symptoms five days after traveling through South America and after the ship set sail from Ushuaia on April 1.

France 24 reported that authorities in Tierra del Fuego province, where Ushuaia is located, insisted the likelihood that the Dutch couple became infected during the 48 hours they spent in the city before their cruise was "almost zero."

ABC

The same France 24 report said the search for answers has pointed towards Ushuaia even as health experts downplayed similarities between the hantavirus and Covid-19.

Euronews said the Dutch ornithologist was referred to as “case 1” in World Health Organization (WHO) disease outbreak news and was officially considered a “probable case” because no microbiological tests were performed to confirm the reason for his illness.

Euronews said the Dutch man developed symptoms on 6 April and died on board on 11 April, and that on 4 May the WHO said it was reacting to a suspected hantavirus outbreak on the ship off the West African island nation of Cape Verde.

PBS reported that passengers began flying home aboard military and government planes after the MV Hondius anchored in the Canary Islands, with personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorting travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife.

BBC

PBS also said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, called it the first-ever outbreak of the rare hantavirus on a cruise ship, while WHO spokesperson Sarah Tyler said on Monday that six people had been infected.

In a separate account of the outbreak response, PBS quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying, "This is not another COVID. And the risk to the public is low."

Euronews reported that one hypothesis for where the infection happened was that the couple visited a landfill site in Ushuaia known for attracting birdwatchers, while local authorities rejected the claim and said they had never recorded a single case of hantavirus in the area surrounding the landfill in Tierra del Fuego.

Euronews added that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the current hypothesis is that at least one passenger was exposed to the Andes virus while spending time in Argentina or Chile before boarding the ship.

PBS said a French woman tested positive for the hantavirus and her health worsened in the hospital overnight, and it also reported that one of 17 American passengers evacuated to Nebraska tested positive but was not showing any symptoms.

France 24 said a team of Argentine experts was expected in Ushuaia in the coming days to capture and test specimens for the virus, as doubts remained over a local subspecies of the rodent.