Hantavirus detected in Ushuaia, but viral variant differs from cruise ship outbreak strain

For the first time, hantavirus has been detected in rodents captured in Ushuaia, located in Argentina's southernmost province of Tierra del Fuego. This discovery comes as part of an investigation into a hantavirus outbreak that occurred aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius.

While the viral variant found in Ushuaia is described as "related" to the Andes virus, national health authorities confirmed it is genetically different from the strain responsible for the outbreak on the ship. The National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (Anlis Malbrán) stated that studies are ongoing to determine the complete viral genome and its exact identity percentage with other characterized hantaviruses.

"These results are definitive in showing that the identified virus is not related to the cruise ship outbreak," Anlis Malbrán clarified. This finding necessitates an intensification of environmental and epidemiological surveillance in Tierra del Fuego, a region where hantavirus presence was previously unconfirmed by detected cases.

The analysis involved five out of 144 Patagonian long-tailed mice (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus) captured in May in areas like Tierra del Fuego National Park. This species is known to be a reservoir for the Andes virus in endemic southern regions. Previous outbreaks in Argentina have established that the Andes virus can transmit between humans, in addition to the environmental transmission route from infected rodents.