Buenos Aires (EFE).- The cruise ship where a possible hantavirus outbreak was detected arrived in the country from Montevideo in November 2025. It had sailed from Argentina on April 1 and had been based at the southern city of Ushuaia since its arrival, making voyages around the South Atlantic islands and Antarctica, official sources reported on Monday.
«The vessel, coming from Montevideo, entered the port of Ushuaia on November 16, 2025. From there, it conducted various cabotage voyages between Ushuaia, the Antarctic sector, and South Atlantic islands, and on April 1, 2026, it sailed towards South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Saint Helena, and other points in the South Atlantic,» explained Argentina’s Ministry of Health in a statement.
The health ministry also reported that it «maintains technical and epidemiological exchange with international and provincial authorities to gather official information on the confirmed cases on the cruise ship,» currently off the coast of Cape Verde (northeast Africa), while evaluating «the epidemiological history linked to the vessel’s itinerary.»
The Argentine government, which formalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in March by decision of President Javier Milei, stressed that the province of Tierra del Fuego, whose capital is Ushuaia, has no registered hantavirus cases but is nonetheless prepared to «adopt the measures that may be necessary to protect the health of the population.»
The southern region of the country has a low circulation of the virus, with only ten cases reported in the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, and Chubut during the 2025-2026 season. Furthermore, no cases have appeared in Santa Cruz, the only province bordering Tierra del Fuego, for seven years.
On Sunday, the WHO confirmed that at least six people were affected by the possible outbreak detected on the vessel MV Hondius, including three fatalities and three individuals currently undergoing treatment.
According to Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch cruise operator, 149 people, including tourists and crew, remained aboard the ship as of Monday. This number includes the three individuals who were disembarked due to the outbreak: two who died and one who remains in intensive care in South Africa.
The largest group onboard the ship are Filipinos (38), followed by British (23), Americans (17), and Spanish (14). There is also one Argentine passenger and one Guatemalan crew member. EFE
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