Argentina races to find origins of cruise ship hantavirus outbreak, amid reports some passengers have returned to US

Officials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to determine if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise ship, amid reports that a number of passengers have already returned to their home countries. Argentina, where the cruise to Antarctica departed, is consistently ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having the highest incidence of the rare, rodent-borne disease in Latin America. Investigators there are working to contact trace the source of contamination. The Argentine health ministry on Tuesday reported 101 hantavirus infections since June 2025, roughly double to the year prior. A hantavirus found in South America, called the Andes virus, can cause a severe and often fatal lung disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The disease led to death in nearly a third of cases in the last year, Argentina’s health ministry said. Authorities said passengers on the MV Hondius ship tested positive for the Andes virus. Three passengers have died, one is in intensive care in a South African hospital, and three others were evacuated from the ship Wednesday . Another man who left the ship earlier in the voyage tested positive in Switzerland. Argentina on Wednesday said it was sending genetic material from the Andes virus and testing equipment to help Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom detect it. …