Buenos Aires, May 7 (IANS). The deadly Hantavirus infection spread on the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius operating in the South Atlantic has now raised international concern. Investigative agencies are trying to find out whether this outbreak originated from Argentina, from where this journey to Antarctica had started.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has long counted Argentina as one of the countries with the highest number of hantavirus infection cases in Latin America. According to Argentina’s Health Ministry, 101 infections have been recorded in the country since June 2025, almost double the number from the previous year.
According to experts, “Andes Virus” found in South America causes a serious lung disease called “Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome”. This disease proves fatal in many cases. Argentina’s Health Ministry said that about one-third of infected patients died in the past year.
Authorities have confirmed that Andes virus has been found in several passengers on the cruise ship. So far, three passengers have died, while one person is admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a South African hospital. Three other passengers were evacuated from the ship and sent for treatment. The infection of a passenger who had left the ship earlier during the journey was confirmed in Switzerland.
Given the seriousness of the situation, Argentina has decided to send genetic material and testing equipment for the virus to Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands and UNA, so that potentially infected travelers can be identified.
Hantavirus is spread primarily through contact with the urine, saliva, or feces of infected rats. It does not usually spread between humans, but some past outbreaks of Andes virus have seen limited human-to-human transmission.
Initial symptoms of infection may be like the common flu—fever, body aches, headache, and fatigue. Later, it can rapidly affect the lungs and cause serious difficulty in breathing.
Meanwhile, concerns have also increased regarding the 23 passengers who disembarked from the ship on St. Helena Island on April 23. According to the Spanish newspaper Ehl Pais, there was no contact with him for several days, which has further increased the possibility of the infection spreading.
The news is that these people have returned to their respective countries including America. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that US travelers were being monitored in Georgia, California and Arizona, although none of them had shown symptoms of the disease.
The WHO says the first death on a cruise ship was a 70-year-old Dutch man on April 11. About two weeks later, his body was disembarked at St. Helena. His 69-year-old wife was traveling by plane from St. Helena to South Africa; She collapsed at Johannesburg Airport and died in a hospital on 26 April. The third passenger was a German woman who died on 2 May.
–IANS
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