Tourism hotspot at ‘finish of the world’ denies inflicting hantavirus outbreak
Experts have dismissed reports the hantavirus crisis originated from a landfill and birdwatching site in Ushuaia at the southern tip of Argentina
A landfill site on the outskirts of Ushuaia was believed to have been the source of the infection(Image: AP)
Tourist hotspot Ushuaia was not the “ground zero” of the deadly rat virus outbreak on a cruise ship, it is claimed. Experts have dismissed reports the hantavirus crisis originated in a landfill at the city in southern tip of Argentina, dubbed “The End of the World”.
The luxury liner MV Hondius set sail from the city on April 1, 10 days before the first sick passenger died from hantavirus, sparking fears it had originated at the tip, where tourists often visit to watch birds and waste attracts rats and mice.
But Juan Petrina, director of epidemiology for Tierra del Fuego state in Argentina, said Leo Schilperoord – the first patient struck down – had visited northern Patagonia, 1,500 miles further north, where there’s been 101 confirmed cases.
He said: “In Tierra del Fuego we have no record of hantavirus cases in our history. And specifically, since 1996 – when the National Surveillance System included it among mandatory reporting diseases – we haven’t had a single case in Tierra del Fuego.
“The virus has never been here. We don’t know where the information is coming from saying the couple caught the virus at the local tip.”
Schilperoord, 70, and his wife Mirjam, 69, both died after boarding the MV Hondius. Petrina told the Daily Mail: “Even if they did go there, which we don’t know, the colilargo rat, which carries the virus, is not there.
“They were in northern Patagonia 25 to 30 days before coming to Ushuaia. They almost certainly contracted the illness there.”
The Hondius, which is carrying passengers on a £19,000 Atlantic Odyssey tour, has made global headlines after the outbreak killed Schilperoord on April 11.
His body remained on board until April 24 when the ship docked in the British Overseas Territory of St Helena. Mirjam accompanied his body to Johannesburg but fell ill and died in hospital.
A German passenger died on the ship on May 2. No further deaths have since been recorded but several cases have sprung up in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands.
The Argentinian health ministry confirmed at the weekend there are currently nine cases of hantavirus in the country with one male patient in a critical condition.
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