'Patient Zero' in deadly hantavirus cruise ship outbreak was Dutch ornithologist Leo Schilperoord

[LtTx]

21. Haven't they decided it was in Patagonia?

Schilperoord and his wife, Mirjam, 69, were experienced birdwatchers from Haulerwijk, the Netherlands, on a five‑month South American expedition. They visited northern Patagonia 25–30 days before arriving in Ushuaia, where they were in an area with 101 recent hantavirus cases and 32 deaths MSN. Argentine health officials now believe they contracted the Andes strain of hantavirus there, the only hantavirus known to transmit between humans MSN+1.

Earlier reports suggested exposure at a landfill near Ushuaia, but new evidence points to northern Patagonia as the more likely site MSN. The Andes strain is carried by long‑tailed pygmy rice rats, and infection can occur through inhalation of aerosolized particles from rodent droppings or urine AOL+1.