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Hantavirus Hunt: Rats Trapped in Ushuaia Forests
20 May
Summary
- Argentine investigators are trapping rodents near Ushuaia.
- The outbreak linked to the MV Hondius has caused three deaths.
- Scientists are testing for hantavirus in an area previously unaffected.
Argentine investigators have initiated fieldwork, trapping rodents in forests near Ushuaia, in their search for the origin of a deadly hantavirus outbreak. This outbreak is linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship, which saw three passengers die and several others fall ill. The scientific team, comprising experts from the Malbrán Institute, is meticulously collecting samples from captured rats to test for the hantavirus.
The investigation is particularly focused on Ushuaia and the surrounding Tierra del Fuego region, an area previously considered unaffected by hantavirus. While the Andes virus is endemic in parts of Patagonia, its presence in Tierra del Fuego has not been previously recorded. Scientists are examining a subspecies of the long-tailed pygmy rice rat, known locally as the 'colilargo', to determine its potential role in transmitting the virus.
Provincial health officials in Tierra del Fuego are adamant that their region is not the source of the outbreak, emphasizing the importance of this broader investigation to ascertain if hantavirus exists in their province at all. The increasing number of hantavirus cases across Argentina in recent years is attributed by scientists to the expansion of the colilargo rat's range, influenced by climate change and human development.
