A large-scale rodent capture operation was launched in Ushuaia following the hantavirus alert.

An Argentine scientific mission captured approximately 150 rodents in the Ushuaia region to determine if any of the animals carry the "Andes" strain of hantavirus, at the heart of the outbreak that occurred aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. Analyses will now be conducted in the coming weeks to verify the possible presence of the virus in the Tierra del Fuego province.

Biologists from Buenos Aires have deployed up to 150 traps in several areas around Ushuaia and in Tierra del Fuego National Park. The goal is to search for a possible rodent carrier of the "Andes" strain, the only known variant of hantavirus capable of transmission between humans.

The "long-tailed rat" at the center of research

Scientists are particularly interested in the long-tailed rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), the main known vector of the Andean virus in South America. However, local authorities maintain that this rodent and the hantavirus have been officially absent from Tierra del Fuego for several decades of mandatory health monitoring.

The investigation became a priority after an outbreak of infection aboard the MV Hondius, which resulted in several deaths among the passengers. The "patient zero," a Dutch national and avid birdwatcher, had spent approximately 48 hours in Ushuaia before boarding the cruise ship. According to several findings, he had visited a rodent-infested open-air landfill in the area, a location now considered a possible source of contamination.

Results expected in several weeks

Argentine health authorities indicate that sample analysis should take approximately four weeks. Scientists want to determine if infected rodents are actually circulating in the southern region, which would challenge local authorities' claims that the province is free of the disease.

This continues to fuel international concerns surrounding the Andean virus, which is being closely monitored because it can cause severe pulmonary illness with human-to-human transmission. In France, however, health authorities maintain that the risk to the general population remains low and that the strain in question is not circulating within Europe.