Argentina Investigates Source of Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship
Axios (Tổng hợp từ Al Jazeera English)
Argentina has launched an investigation into a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, which has killed three people including a Dutch couple and a German national. The health ministry is sending experts to Ushuaia to test rodents in areas linked to the victims' travel routes. WHO officials say the general public risk remains low as the virus spreads much slower than COVID-19.
Argentine health authorities are investigating whether the country is the origin of a deadly hantavirus outbreak on an Atlantic cruise ship. So far, three people have died, including a Dutch couple and a German national.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports eight suspected cases, with three confirmed positive for hantavirus through laboratory tests. “WHO will continue to work with countries to ensure that patients, contacts, passengers, and crew receive the information and support they need to stay safe and prevent onward spread,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on social media.
The cruise ship, stranded off the coast of Cape Verde since Sunday, set sail for Spain on Wednesday after three people were evacuated, two of them in critical condition. According to Tedros, these individuals will be taken to the Netherlands.
Argentina's health ministry said it would send experts to the far-southern region of Ushuaia to trap and test rodents—the primary vector of the virus—“in areas linked to the route” taken by the Dutch couple who died from hantavirus. Health officials stressed that the risk to the general public remains low, as the virus spreads much more slowly than diseases like COVID-19.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic management, explained: “When we talk about close contact [for human-to-human transmission], we mean very close physical contact, such as sharing a bedroom, cabin, or providing medical care—this is very different from COVID and very different from influenza.”
The hantavirus found in South America, known as Andes virus, can cause severe and often fatal lung disease. Scientists believe climate change is expanding rodent habitats, leading to an increase in infections. Argentina's health ministry reported 101 hantavirus cases since June 2025, nearly double the number from the same period last year. “There is no doubt that over time, hantavirus is spreading more and more,” said infectious disease expert Hugo Pizzi.
