The ‘end of the world’ city is suspected of being the place where Hantavirus originated

The cruise ship MV Hondius flying the Dutch flag left the port in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province, southern Argentina on April 1. Five days later, a 70-year-old Dutch tourist fell ill while traveling with his wife. Before that, the two went bird watching in many places in South America. The patient had symptoms of Hanta virus infection, a virus transmitted from rodents.

This man, his wife and another passenger later died. The incident evokes memories of the Covid-19 epidemic, although medical experts say that these two viruses do not have many similarities.

The search for a solution to the outbreak is now turning its attention to Ushuaia, although local officials affirmed that the possibility of the Dutch couple being infected during their 48-hour stay in the city before boarding the ship was “almost zero”.

On May 11, a thin layer of snow began to cover the area, signaling that the ski season was coming and the tourist season was gradually ending. The last of the 500 cruise ships that call at the port of Ushuaia each year have left. Currently, only small boats carry tourists to visit sea lion and seabird populations on neighboring islands.

“Everything seems to be fine,” said Cardona, a Colombian tourist traveling with his wife on a cruise ship to Argentina. However, he and his wife still wear masks to keep warm and prevent Hanta virus infection. Meanwhile, tourist Silvina Galarza from Concordia city said she only saw very few people wearing masks here.

Tierra del Fuego provincial officials affirmed that the city could not be the place where the outbreak started, because the first Dutch patient became ill five days after leaving the port. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the incubation period of Hanta virus ranges from one to six weeks, most commonly two to three weeks.

Local officials said Tierra del Fuego has not recorded any cases of Hanta virus infection since 1996. The long-tailed colilargo rat carries the Andes strain that can spread from person to person and only lives in the northern provinces of Argentina. However, there are still doubts regarding a local rat subspecies. The Argentine expert team plans to arrive in Ushuaia in the next few days to test samples for the virus.

A landfill about 6 km from Ushuaia is becoming the center of speculation. Local media said the Dutch couple may have come here to look for native birds such as the white-throated caracara.

The landfill is partly outdoors and attracts many scavenger birds. The area is surrounded by barbed wire but is still accessible via many dirt roads. Although there is no official tour, regional tourism industry leader Juan Manuel Pavlov said he had heard of some tour companies bringing tourists here to look for rare birds.

However, Mr. Guillermo Deferrari of the Ushuaia Scientific Research Center rejected the hypothesis related to the landfill. He explained that colilargo rats are herbivores, living on seeds and fruits in the forest ecosystem, and do not live in landfills like rats.

Still, persistent doubts cause worry for local tourism businesses. Cruise ship company manager Angel Brisighelli said: “Obviously, having a destination linked to the spread of an epidemic is not a good thing.”

He said that although officials downplayed the possibility of Tierra del Fuego being related to the outbreak, in fact public opinion still focuses on the MV Hondius ship departing from Ushuaia.

Ushuaia is surrounded by the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Strait, with a population of nearly 75,000 people. Located at latitude 54 degrees South, this is considered the southernmost city in the world and is often called “the end of the world” by Argentines.

The city’s motto is “Ushuaia, fin del mundo, principio de todo” (The end of the world, the beginning of everything). Tourist Luis Cardona affirmed that whether there is a virus or not, he is still willing to return to this city.