Argentina health officials reported the following about the Andes virus (hantavirus) outbreak on board the Dutch-flagged cruise ship, MV Hondius.
On May 2, the Netherlands National Focal Point (NFP) notified the Argentine NFP of a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship with 147 passengers and crew from 23 different countries. The ship had departed from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, on April 1 and was following a route through the South Atlantic with multiple stops. The ship is currently off the coast of Cape Verde, the country that will lead the response to the outbreak.
The vessel, which had departed from Montevideo, entered the port of Ushuaia on November 16, 2025. From there, it made several coastal voyages between Ushuaia, the Antarctic sector, and the islands of the South Atlantic. On April 1, 2026, it set sail for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Saint Helena, and other points in the South Atlantic. The province of Tierra del Fuego reported no significant health-related events.
The Ministry of Health says is pursuing a two-pronged strategy to address the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius vessel. On one hand, it is strengthening international cooperation by sending supplies to the affected countries and providing technical assistance for the clinical management of cases. Simultaneously, it is promoting investigations within Argentina to determine the possible origin of the infections.
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As of today, May 6, eight cases have been confirmed among passengers and crew of the MV Hondius, and three of them have died. Yesterday, it was confirmed that the variant corresponds to the Andes strain, which has only been reported to circulate in Chubut, Río Negro, and Neuquén provinces, and in southern Chile. Given that the ship departed from Argentina on April 1, the country is actively collaborating with the relevant international organizations and all countries involved to contain the outbreak and ensure proper case management.
The ANLIS-Malbrán Institute has offered its technical capacity, experience, and resources to assist healthcare systems that require it. Based on an assessment of each country’s needs, Argentina will send Andes virus RNA—a fundamental input for detecting the virus in humans—and ELISA plates sensitized with Andes virus antigens to laboratories in Spain, Senegal, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. These plates will be used in serological studies to detect specific antibodies against the virus in human serum. With these supplies, approximately 2,500 diagnostic tests can be performed. Argentina will also send diagnostic guidelines and treatment protocols to ensure the proper management of cases.
Meanwhile, the National Ministry of Health and the ANLIS-Malbrán Institute are advancing the epidemiological investigation at the local level. In coordination with health authorities in Tierra del Fuego and other Patagonian jurisdictions, they are reconstructing the itinerary of the index case, that is, the Dutch citizens who presented the first symptoms. So far, their entry and exit from Argentina are known: it has been confirmed that they arrived in the country on November 27 of last year and traveled by car for 40 days before crossing into Chile on January 7 of this year. Once there, they continued their journey by car for another 24 days. The itinerary also includes entry into the province of Neuquén on January 31 and another visit to Chile 12 days later. They then crossed from Chile to Mendoza, where they began a 20-day road trip to reach Misiones. Finally, on March 13, they crossed overland to Uruguay and on March 27 they returned to the country to head to Ushuaia from where they left on April 1.
To date, no associated cases have been identified in the country. Technical teams from the Malbrán Institute will travel to Ushuaia to conduct rodent capture and analysis operations in areas linked to the movements of the cases and to detect the possible presence of the virus in natural reservoirs. It is important to note that although it is not confirmed that the transmission occurred in Argentina and that Tierra del Fuego has not reported any cases of hantavirus since mandatory reporting of the event began in 1996, these actions are part of the intensified epidemiological surveillance strategy being carried out in coordination with the jurisdictions, which are responsible for strengthening the reporting and detection of cases in their territories.