Argentina races to trace source of hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship as some passengers return to US
Guardian staff and agencies
Argentine authorities are investigating the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius, with three deaths and passengers returning to the US and other countries. The country has reported 101 cases since June 2025, double the previous year. Experts warn that climate change is expanding rodent habitats, increasing the risk of spread.
Argentine officials and experts are racing to determine whether the country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, as multiple passengers have returned to their home countries.
Argentina, where the cruise ship departed for Antarctica, is regularly ranked by the World Health Organization as the country with the highest rate of hantavirus in Latin America. Investigators are tracing the source of the infection.
On May 6, the Argentine Health Ministry reported 101 cases of hantavirus since June 2025, double the number from the same period the previous year. The Andes virus, found in South America, can cause severe lung disease and is often fatal. The ministry said nearly a third of cases in the past year have died.
Three passengers aboard the MV Hondius have died, one is in intensive care in a South African hospital, and three others have been evacuated from the ship. A man who left the ship earlier tested positive in Switzerland.
Argentina said on May 7 that it would send genetic material of the Andes virus and testing equipment to help Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom detect the virus.
According to the WHO, the first death aboard the ship was a 70-year-old Dutch man on April 11. His body was brought ashore nearly two weeks later at Saint Helena Island. His wife, 69, flew from Saint Helena to South Africa, collapsed at Johannesburg airport, and died on April 26. The third passenger, a German woman, died on May 2.
Twenty-three passengers who left the ship at Saint Helena on April 23 have returned to their countries, including the United States. American passengers are being monitored in Georgia, California, and Arizona, though none have shown symptoms.
Argentine authorities are tracing the whereabouts of infected passengers in Ushuaia, Argentina's southernmost city, before boarding. The virus has an incubation period of one to eight weeks, making it difficult to determine when infection occurred.
The evacuation of three passengers allowed the ship to continue its three-day journey to the Canary Islands, after Spain permitted the vessel to dock. However, the president of the Canary Islands expressed concern over the ship's berthing in Tenerife.
Argentine public health experts say climate change is increasing the risk of hantavirus spread, as higher temperatures expand the range of rodents carrying the virus. "Argentina has become more tropical due to climate change, bringing tropical plants that produce seeds for rats to thrive," said infectious disease specialist Hugo Pizzi.
