Scientists head to Ushuaia for hantavirus fact-finding probe

Lead

A team of scientists is scouring the woods around Ushuaia, the southernmost city of Argentina, to determine whether the area was the source of a hantavirus outbreak that killed three passengers aboard a cruise ship last month. The investigation, led by biologists from Argentina's ANLIS-Malbrán Institute, began Tuesday with the collection of rodents from traps set across the region, according to AFP and local health officials.

The MV Hondius, which set sail from Ushuaia on April 1, became the epicenter of an international health scare after three passengers died from hantavirus, a rodent-borne disease with no specific treatment or vaccine. The search for answers has focused on Ushuaia, the picturesque port city known as the gateway to Antarctica, even as provincial authorities insist the likelihood of infection there is "almost zero."

Coverage comparison

Reports from the Buenos Aires Times, drawing on statements from Argentina's Health Ministry, provincial officials, and research scientists, consistently describe the scientific mission as a fact-finding effort. All accounts agree that scientists are setting traps in forested areas around Ushuaia, including Tierra del Fuego National Park, to capture rodents for testing. The samples will be sent to the ANLIS-Malbrán Institute in Buenos Aires for analysis, with results expected within about a month.

The coverage differs slightly in emphasis. Early reports framed the mission as a proactive government response, quoting Health Ministry statements about "rodent capture and analysis operations in areas linked to the movements of the cases." Later reports noted the scientists' fieldwork had already begun, with one local health source telling AFP that "the traps worked very well." A separate article took a more speculative tone, highlighting Ushuaia's "labouring under suspicion" as the potential source, while another emphasized provincial officials' vigorous denial of that hypothesis.

Key claims

• The MV Hondius set sail from Ushuaia on April 1 and three passengers died from hantavirus. This is reported by all sources.
• Hantavirus typically spreads through the urine, faeces and saliva of infected rodents, and there are no vaccines or specific treatments. This basic background appears in multiple reports.
• The Andes strain of hantavirus is the only one known to spread between people. Scientists are specifically testing for this strain, which was detected in several passengers.
• Tierra del Fuego Province has not recorded a hantavirus case since mandatory reporting began in 1996. Provincial health official Juan Petrina and other local authorities emphasize this point.
• The first victim, a Dutch man, spent 48 hours in Ushuaia with his wife before boarding the ship, and the couple had traveled through Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina prior to the cruise. After the man's death, his wife also died, along with another passenger.
• The landfill in Ushuaia has been a focus of speculation as a possible source, though this suggestion is not substantiated by official statements and is reported by a single outlet.
• Argentina has seen an increase in hantavirus cases this year, according to Health Ministry data cited by one source, though experts describe the rise as "not atypical" and not an outbreak.

Perspectives

Provincial authorities maintain that no hantavirus case has been recorded in Tierra del Fuego in decades, making Ushuaia an unlikely source. They point to the virus's incubation period and the fact that 45 days have passed since the ship's departure with no new cases as evidence against local infection.

The World Health Organization believes the first infection occurred before the cruise began, followed by human-to-human transmission onboard. The exact place and time of initial infection remain unknown.

Scientists are keeping an open mind, focusing on capturing the long-tailed rat species that may carry the Andes strain. Local researchers are divided over whether the relevant rodent is the long-tailed rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus) or the Magellanic subspecies, but the key question is whether any captured specimen tests positive for the virus.

As the tourist season winds down in Ushuaia, visitors appear aware of the situation but not alarmed. A Colombian tourist told AFP he and his wife wore face masks "for the cold, and for the [hantavirus] situation." Another visitor admitted to being "a bit worried," though residents say mask-wearing remains rare. The rabbit hunter's moon has yet to offer answers, and the scientific results are awaited to either clear or confirm the suspicions hanging over the city at the end of the world.