The Media Line: Argentina Investigates Possible Source of Hantavirus Outbreak Aboard Cruise Ship 

Argentina Investigates Possible Source of Hantavirus Outbreak Aboard Cruise Ship  

By The Media Line Staff  

Argentine health experts are investigating whether the country was the source of a hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius after multiple passengers became ill during a month-long Atlantic voyage, including several confirmed cases of the potentially fatal Andes virus strain.  

Passengers died aboard the vessel, and at least eight people were identified as suspected hantavirus cases during the voyage. Laboratory tests confirmed two infections, while three people were medically evacuated from the ship on Wednesday.  

Authorities are attempting to determine where the infected passengers may have contracted the virus. Investigators are examining passenger itineraries and timelines to determine whether exposure occurred before the ship departed Argentina for Antarctica on April 1, during a stop at a remote South Atlantic island, or aboard the vessel itself.  

The World Health Organization has identified Argentina as having the world’s highest incidence of hantavirus, which spreads through contact with rodent saliva, urine, and feces.  

Argentina’s Health Ministry reported 101 hantavirus infections since June 2025, roughly double the number recorded during the previous year.  

The Andes virus strain identified in passengers aboard the MV Hondius can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe respiratory disease that is often fatal.  

Experts in Argentina said environmental changes may be contributing to the spread of the disease.  

“Argentina has become more tropical because of climate change, and that has brought disruptions, like dengue and yellow fever, but also new tropical plants that produce seeds for mice to proliferate,” infectious disease specialist Hugo Pizzi told the Associated Press.  

“There is no doubt that as time goes by, the hantavirus is spreading more and more,” he said.  

Health authorities in multiple countries are monitoring passengers and crew connected to the outbreak.  

The Netherlands received three evacuees for treatment, while Switzerland confirmed that a passenger tested positive after returning home. South Africa is treating a British patient in intensive care.  

Britain, the United States, and Singapore are monitoring additional passengers in isolation, most of whom remain asymptomatic. Dutch officials are also testing a KLM crew member who may have been exposed through contact with a passenger who died last month in South Africa.