Smartraveller has issued new guidance for Argentina after an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship that departed from Ushuaia in Patagonia, which resulted in at least one death among those onboard, has raised concern amongst travelers.
DFAT has issued an update to its travel advice for Argentina on 11 May, advising that hantavirus is still considered a hazard within certain areas of Argentina, specifically Buenos Aires and northern Patagonia.
Australian travelers are advised to be mindful and try to stay away from any direct contact with live and dead rodents, along with their droppings and burrows.
This advice comes amid reports of the continued unfolding of the hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius.
The Dutch expedition vessel has sailed from the city of Ushuaia on 1 April carrying around 150 passengers and crew members on board.
According to the WHO, at least eight cases of hantavirus can be directly attributed to the vessel, three of whom have died and six others have been infected by the Andes strain.
Investigators believe the first patient, a Dutch passenger, most likely contracted the virus while on a months long road trip through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay before boarding.
He fell ill on 6 April and died on board five days later. His wife disembarked at Saint Helena, and died in a Johannesburg clinic on 26 April.
Authorities suspect the cluster on the vessel was driven by the rare human-to-human transmission documented for the Andes variant.
Also Read: Australia moves to bring home cruise ship passengers caught in deadly virus outbreak
Argentine authorities have been tracking the movements of the index case and setting rat traps along his route in order to find the source. The country’s Malbrán Institute conducts the local epidemiological investigation.
Hantavirus cases climbing in Argentina
The cruise ship cluster coincides with an increased number of cases of hantavirus infection in Argentina.
The health department in the country reports a total of 101 confirmed cases since the beginning of the season in June, which represents nearly double the number of last year at the same time when only 57 cases were reported.
The deaths from the disease stood at 32, of which 42 of the infected patients came from the province of Buenos Aires.
It has been observed that hantavirus pulmonary syndrome has been widely reported from the northern provinces of Salta and Jujuy as well as central Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos.
Hantavirus infection occurs via contact with the feces, urine, or saliva of infected rodents and there is no vaccine and treatment for the disease, but it could become severe and life threatening.
Climate change and habitat disruption are identified as contributing to the problem as it allows the rodent population to expand to new places.
People traveling to the rural and semi rural areas of Argentina are recommended to prevent access by rodents to their accommodations, food stores and seek immediate medical care on the occurrence of fever and respiratory problems.
