Argentine Scientists Set Traps to Trace Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak Source

(Ushuaia, Argentina, May 19, AFP) Scientists today set the first traps to capture potentially virus-carrying rodents to determine if Hantavirus is present in the southern Argentine city of Ushuaia. The MV Hondius cruise ship, which suffered a Hantavirus outbreak during its voyage leading to three deaths and causing global public health panic, departed from this southernmost Argentine city on April 1. Biologists from the capital, Buenos Aires, began setting traps yesterday at various locations on Tierra del Fuego to analyze captured rodents for the 'Andes strain.' This is the only known Hantavirus strain that can be transmitted from person to person. As night fell, biologists and national park staff, wearing masks and gloves, set up dozens of small metal cages on a trail outside Ushuaia, with more cages placed in Tierra del Fuego National Park, 15 kilometers from the city. According to local medical sources, the team has set up to 150 traps in total. Tierra del Fuego provincial officials insist that no cases of infection have occurred locally since authorities mandated Hantavirus reporting 30 years ago. This starkly contrasts with northern provinces such as Rio Negro and Chubut. Local scientists believe the cases on the Hondius are more likely to have originated from other regions. The Dutch couple who died from Hantavirus on the cruise ship had been on an extensive four-month tour within Argentina, during which they also traveled to Chile and Uruguay.