Experts: Hantavirus detected in Tierra del Fuego, but no link to cruise outbreak

Experts have detected hantavirus in rodents captured in Tierra del Fuego Province, although the strain differs from the one responsible for the outbreak aboard theMV Hondius cruise ship that claimed three lives, Argentina's Health Ministry said on Monday.

Tests carried out by the ANLIS-Malbrán Institute found that "the viral variant detected in rodents from Tierra del Fuego is different from that observed in the human cases associated with the outbreak under investigation," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

"The investigation ruled out the analysed rodents as the source of infection linked to that event," it added.

Tierra del Fuego Province, tane island separated from mainland South America by the Strait of Magellan, had never recorded a case of hantavirus since notification of the disease became mandatory in 1996.

On April 1, the MV Hondius Dutch-flagged cruise ship departed from the port of Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego Province, on a voyage towards Cape Verde. Days later, one passenger died at sea from hantavirus. His wife and a third passenger later also died, triggering a public health emergency that led to quarantines in several countries and around 13 infections, according to the World Health Organization.

Subsequent studies found that the human cases were caused by the Andes strain, which is endemic to southern Argentina and Chile and is the only known hantavirus strain capable of spreading between people.

Hantavirus is a rare virus for which there is no vaccine. It is typically transmitted by the long-tailed pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus).

In May, a ANLIS-Malbrán mission team in Ushuaia captured 144 rodents for analysis, although none belonged to the long-tailed pygmy rice rat species.

"The results showed that five specimens belonging to the *Abrothrix* genus had specific antibodies against hantavirus," the Health Ministry said.

It remains unclear where the first patient, a Dutch tourist, became infected. In the months before boarding the cruise, he had travelled through several Argentine provinces, parts of Chile and Uruguay.

Following analysis of the rodents captured in Ushuaia between May 18 and 22, the Malbrán Institute reported that genetic testing found the virus "is considered to be related to the Andes virus."

It described the pathogen as "a previously undescribed viral variant."

"However, it is different from the variant observed in the human cases associated with the outbreak under investigation," the institute stressed.

– TIMES/AFP