Argentina hunts source of hantavirus outbreak on Antarctic cruise

Argentina is working urgently to trace the source of a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius, a cruise ship that had travelled to Antarctica, amid concern that some passengers had already returned to their home countries, including the United States.

The World Health Organisation has said the overall public health risk remains low, but passengers and crew are still being monitored closely.

The Guardian reported that Argentine officials and public health experts are investigating whether Argentina, where the Antarctic voyage began, was the original source of the infections on the Dutch-flagged cruise ship.

WHO data shows Argentina has consistently recorded the highest rate of hantavirus infection in Latin America. Argentina’s Health Ministry reported on Tuesday that 101 hantavirus cases had been found since June 2025, almost double the number recorded a year earlier.

The strain detected on the ship was the Andes virus, a South American strain that can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, or HPS. Argentina’s Health Ministry said nearly one-third of infected patients had died from the disease over the past year.

Authorities confirmed that several passengers on the MV Hondius tested positive for the Andes virus. Three people have died, one patient is in intensive care at a hospital in South Africa, and three others were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday. Another man who had earlier left the vessel later tested positive in Switzerland.

According to WHO, the first death involved a 70-year-old Dutch man who died on board on April 11. His body was removed from the ship at Saint Helena nearly two weeks later. His 69-year-old wife flew from Saint Helena to South Africa, collapsed at Johannesburg airport and died in hospital on April 26. The third fatality was a German woman who died on May 2.

Spanish newspaper El País reported that 23 passengers disembarked at Saint Helena on April 23 and had since returned to their countries, including the United States.

The New York Times reported that American passengers were being monitored in Georgia, California and Arizona, although none had shown symptoms so far.

Argentina’s government said it was trying to trace the movements of infected passengers before they boarded the ship in Ushuaia, the southern city known as the “end of the world” and a key gateway for Antarctic travel.

Officials plan to trace contacts, separate high-risk groups and carry out active surveillance to prevent further spread.

Argentine government information showed that the Dutch couple who died had travelled in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile before boarding the ship. Because the virus can have an incubation period of one to eight weeks, officials have not yet determined whether passengers were infected before leaving Argentina on April 1, during stops in the South Atlantic, or on board the ship.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that WHO was continuing to work with the cruise operator to monitor the health of passengers and crew, while coordinating with countries to support treatment, symptom monitoring and medical evacuation if needed.

He said monitoring had already begun for passengers still on the ship and those who had disembarked, in cooperation with the operator and national health authorities.

“At this time, the overall public health risk remains low,” Tedros said.

Despite the public health emergency, Spanish authorities allowed the MV Hondius, carrying nearly 150 passengers and crew, to dock in the Canary Islands after patients were evacuated. The decision sparked debate, with the Canary Islands president voicing concern over permission for the ship to dock in Tenerife.

The Telegraph reported that one of those evacuated was Martin Anstey, a 56-year-old British expedition guide. A 41-year-old Dutch ship’s doctor and a 65-year-old German female passenger were also evacuated.

At the same time, public health researchers in Argentina are beginning to link the spread of hantavirus to the effects of climate change. Experts say rising temperatures are expanding the habitats of rodents that carry the virus, increasing the risk of outbreaks.

Hugo Pizzi, an infectious disease expert in Argentina, said the country was becoming more tropical because of global warming. He said this had brought outbreaks of diseases such as dengue and yellow fever, as well as new tropical plants that produce seeds and allow rodent populations to grow.