Authorities and health experts in Argentina are urgently trying to ascertain whether the country is the origin of a serious hantavirus outbreak that has affected passengers aboard an Atlantic cruise ship, particularly as some individuals have already returned to their home nations.
The cruise to Antarctica, which originated from Argentina, is under scrutiny, as the World Health Organization (WHO) consistently ranks the country as having the highest prevalence of this rare rodent-borne illness in Latin America. Investigators are currently engaged in contact tracing to identify the source of the outbreak.
As of Tuesday, the Argentine health ministry reported 101 confirmed hantavirus cases since June 2025, a figure that is approximately double that of the previous year. The Andes virus, a strain found in South America, can lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe and often fatal respiratory illness. In the past year, nearly one-third of those infected in Argentina succumbed to the disease, according to health officials.
Passengers aboard the MV Hondius have tested positive for the Andes virus, leading to three fatalities. One individual is currently in intensive care in South Africa, while three others were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday. Additionally, a man who disembarked earlier in the cruise tested positive in Switzerland.
In response to the outbreak, Argentina announced on Wednesday that it would provide genetic material from the Andes virus and testing equipment to assist Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in their detection efforts.
Typically, hantavirus transmission occurs through contact with infected rodents or their secretions, such as urine, droppings, or saliva, with human-to-human transmission being rare. Nonetheless, limited human-to-human transmission has been observed in some past outbreaks involving the Andes strain.
Concerns have also been raised regarding 23 passengers who reportedly left the MV Hondius on April 23 at Saint Helena, as per reports from the Spanish newspaper El País. One anonymous passenger mentioned to the publication, “There are 23 people wandering around there, and until three days ago, no one had contacted them.”
These individuals have since returned to their respective countries, including the United States, where passengers are being monitored in states such as Georgia, California, and Arizona, with no reported symptoms of illness, according to the New York Times.
The WHO reported that the first on-board death occurred on April 11, involving a 70-year-old Dutch man, whose body was removed from the ship nearly two weeks later at Saint Helena. His 69-year-old wife traveled to South Africa, where she collapsed at an airport and later died in a hospital on April 26. A third passenger, a German woman, died on May 2.
Argentine authorities are investigating the travel history of infected passengers prior to their embarkation on the Dutch-flagged cruise liner in Ushuaia, a southern Argentine city known for being the southernmost city in the world. Once their travel itineraries are confirmed, officials plan to trace contacts, isolate those at risk, and implement monitoring measures to curb further transmission.
The Dutch couple had engaged in sightseeing in Ushuaia and traveled through Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile, as stated by the Argentine government. The virus can take between one and eight weeks to incubate, complicating efforts to determine if passengers contracted it before departing Argentina on April 1, during a scheduled stop at a remote South Atlantic island, or while aboard the ship.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, communicated earlier on X that the organization is collaborating with the cruise operators to monitor the health of both passengers and crew, and to facilitate proper medical follow-up and evacuation as necessary. He emphasized that monitoring and follow-up efforts for those still on board and those who have disembarked are in progress, and that the overall public health risk remains low at this time.
The evacuation of three passengers from the cruise ship, which carried nearly 150 individuals, allows it to continue on its three-day voyage to the Canary Islands after receiving approval from Spanish authorities to dock. However, this decision has sparked controversy, with the president of the Canary Islands expressing apprehensions about the ship’s arrival in Tenerife.
The vessel had been anchored off Cape Verde while arrangements were made for the evacuation of crew members, but as of Wednesday evening, it was en route to the Canary Islands. Among those evacuated were 56-year-old Martin Anstee, an expedition guide, a 41-year-old Dutch ship’s doctor, and a 65-year-old German passenger, as reported by the Telegraph.
The health crisis aboard the MV Hondius coincides with local public health researchers in Argentina highlighting the role of climate change in increasing hantavirus transmission risks. Experts assert that rising temperatures expand the habitats suitable for the hantavirus-carrying rodents. As a result, ecological shifts allow these rodents to thrive in more regions, leading to increased human exposure through contact with their droppings, urine, or saliva.
Hugo Pizzi, a noted infectious disease specialist in Argentina, remarked, “Argentina has become more tropical due to climate change, resulting in disruptions such as dengue and yellow fever, as well as the proliferation of new tropical plants that provide food sources for mice.” He concluded, “There is no doubt that hantavirus is spreading more and more over time.”
With contributions from the Associated Press and Reuters.
