Authorities are investigating whether a fatal hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius originated in the Argentine port of Ushuaia, despite local officials insisting the region is historically virus-free.
Argentina’s southernmost city is defending its tourism reputation against claims it is the source of a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius. According to the BBC, the vessel began its journey in Ushuaia before passengers were evacuated in Tenerife. Local health director Juan Facundo Petrina dismissed theories linking the infection to a local landfill, stating: “In Tierra del Fuego we have no record of hantavirus cases in our history.”
Petrina noted the province lacks the specific long-tailed mouse subspecies that transmits the disease. However, the national government is dispatching experts to test local rodents. Epidemiologist Eduardo López warned that “the case requires more study because ecosystems are changing.” While tourism officials fear an economic shadow, visitors remain calm. Officials are now reconstructing the travels of a deceased Dutch couple believed to be “patient zero.”
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