Argentina investigates hantavirus outbreak on Atlantic cruise

Argentina Scrambles to Trace Origin of Deadly Hantavirus on Antarctic Cruise Ship

Argentine officials and health experts are racing to determine if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has claimed three lives aboard a Dutch-flagged cruise ship that departed from Argentina for Antarctica.

The health emergency unfolds as Argentina experiences a troubling surge in hantavirus cases, with the country’s Health Ministry reporting 101 infections since June 2025—approximately double the number recorded during the same period last year. Many public health researchers attribute this increase to the accelerating effects of climate change in the region.

Argentina consistently ranks highest in Latin America for incidence of this rare rodent-borne disease, according to World Health Organization data. The Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus found in South America, can cause a severe and often fatal lung condition called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The disease has become increasingly lethal in Argentina, with nearly a third of cases proving fatal over the past year, up from an average mortality rate of 15 percent in the previous five years.

“Argentina has become more tropical because of climate change, and that has brought disruptions, like dengue and yellow fever, but also new tropical plants that produce seeds for mice to proliferate,” explained Hugo Pizzi, a prominent Argentine infectious disease specialist. “There is no doubt that as time goes by, the hantavirus is spreading more and more.”

The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has prompted an international response. Argentina is sending genetic material from the Andes virus and testing equipment to help Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom detect it. The virus has claimed the lives of a Dutch couple—a 70-year-old man who died on April 11 and his 69-year-old wife who died on April 26—as well as a German woman who died on May 2.

Authorities are meticulously tracing the infected passengers’ movements within Argentina before they boarded the vessel in Ushuaia, a southern port city known as “the end of the world.” The lengthy incubation period of one to eight weeks makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly where and when the passengers contracted the virus—whether in Argentina, during a scheduled stop at a remote South Atlantic island, or aboard the ship itself.

The Argentine government’s leading hypothesis suggests the Dutch couple may have contracted the virus during a bird-watching excursion in Ushuaia, according to investigators speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation remains ongoing. Officials are also tracking the tourists’ journey through the forested hillsides of Patagonia in southern Argentina, where some infection clusters have been identified.

Complicating matters is the fact that Tierra del Fuego province, where the vessel docked before departure, has never recorded a case of hantavirus. Additionally, early symptoms resemble common flu, making it easy for travelers to dismiss.

“Tourists might think they just have a cold and not take it seriously. That makes it particularly dangerous,” warned Raul González Ittig, a genetics professor at the National University of Córdoba and researcher at state science body CONICET.

The Andes strain is particularly concerning as it’s the only known hantavirus capable of human-to-human transmission, though the WHO has indicated that the risk to the general public remains low. Humans typically contract the virus from exposure to rodent droppings, urine, or saliva.

Climate change has significantly altered the prevalence and geographic distribution of hantavirus in Argentina. The country has experienced a historic drought interspersed with periods of unexpectedly intense rainfall—a pattern of extreme weather that scientists attribute to climate change. These variable conditions create ideal environments for the virus to flourish.

“When precipitation increases, food availability increases, rodent populations grow, and if there are infected rodents, the chance of transmission between rodents—and eventually to humans—also increases,” Ittig explained.

The shifting pattern of infections reflects these changing conditions. While hantavirus cases were once primarily confined to southern Patagonia, the Health Ministry now reports that 83 percent of cases occur in Argentina’s far north.

The human toll of this disease was tragically illustrated by the case of 14-year-old Rodrigo, who died in January after doctors in San Andrés de Giles initially misdiagnosed his symptoms as flu. “I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone in the world,” said his father, David Delgado, highlighting the devastating impact of the disease on local communities ill-equipped to handle such outbreaks.