Tierra del Fuego Disputes Ushuaia Source of Cruise Hantavirus

Officials in Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province disputed national health authorities' theory that a deadly hantavirus outbreak on an Antarctic cruise ship originated at a landfill near Ushuaia, urging investigators to examine other regions of the country visited by infected passengers before they boarded the vessel on April 1.

The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius, which departed Ushuaia for Antarctica but later diverted to waters off Cape Verde, has resulted in three deaths, including a 70-year-old Dutch man on April 11, his 69-year-old wife on April 26, and a German woman on May 2. The World Health Organization reported eight suspected cases among roughly 150 passengers and crew, with five laboratory-confirmed infections of the Andes variant, the only hantavirus strain known to spread from person to person in rare instances.

Argentina's Health Ministry identified the Ushuaia landfill, a site popular with birdwatchers, as the likely infection point for the Dutch couple, who visited while observing local species before boarding. The ministry announced Wednesday it would send experts from the Malbran Institute to trap and test rodents there and in nearby areas. As of Friday, the...