Argentina Traces 2 Dutch Hantavirus Cases as Ushuaia Rumors Stir Antarctic Cruise Tensions
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 14
Argentina Traces 2 Dutch Hantavirus Cases as Ushuaia Rumors Stir Antarctic Cruise Tensions
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 14
Argentine authorities are scrambling to identify where two Dutch cruise passengers contracted hantavirus after the couple traveled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay before boarding.
The probe has been complicated by unconfirmed claims that the outbreak began at a landfill in Ushuaia, the southern Argentine port where the Antarctic cruise departed.
Officials in Tierra del Fuego rejected that theory, with a provincial spokesman calling it an attempt to damage Ushuaia’s image as a tourist gateway and suggesting Chilean rivals may be amplifying the rumors.
Health authorities said the likely strain is Andes hantavirus, which can spread between humans and is endemic in 3 Patagonian provinces in Argentina, where cases are reported every year.
How did a rare rat-borne virus, not native to the area, spread between humans on an Antarctic cruise?
Was the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak a tragic accident or a deliberate international smear campaign?