"The Argentine government's leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple who died contracted the virus during a bird-watching outing at a garbage dump in Ushuaia, according to two investigators who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Ushuaia landfill is a popular, albeit unconventional, bird-watching site as it attracts rare Patagonian species that are difficult to spot elsewhere, such as the White-bellied Seedsnipe, as well as seagulls."
"Officials and experts in Argentina have been scrambling to pin down where infected passengers in the country visited before boarding the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, located at the southernmost tip of South America, earning it the nickname 'El Fin del Mundo' (The End of the World)."
"WHO reported the first death on board, a 70-year-old Dutch man, happened on April 11. His 69-year-old wife, also Dutch, died on April 26. The third passenger, a German woman, died on May 2. The virus can incubate for between one and eight weeks, making investigation efforts complex."
A deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has resulted in three deaths among passengers. Argentine officials believe the virus originated from a garbage dump in Ushuaia, Argentina, a popular but unconventional bird-watching destination that attracts rare Patagonian species and seagulls. A Dutch couple who died likely contracted the virus during a bird-watching excursion at this landfill before boarding the ship. The infected passengers traveled through various locations in Argentina and Chile before embarking. Authorities are tracing the tourists' movements through Patagonian forested areas where infection clusters have been identified. The virus has an incubation period of one to eight weeks, complicating outbreak investigation efforts.
#hantavirus-outbreak #cruise-ship-disease #ushuaia-argentina #zoonotic-disease-transmission #epidemiological-investigation
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