BUENOS AIRES  –  As Argentina’s southernmost city, Ushuaia has long enjoyed its reputation as ‘The End of the World’ and as a gateway for trips both to Antarctica and for tourists to explore the dramatic, natural beauty of Patagonia. But in recent days it has been grappling with a different kind of fame, one that has cast a shadow over local businesses and officials: the suggestion it could be ground zero for the hantavirus outbreak on the Dutch vessel MV Hondius. The cruise ship is now anchored in Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands where passengers are being evacuated and flown home. It began its journey on 1 April, more than 6,000 miles away in Ushuaia in the province of Tierra del Fuego. On board were 114 passengers and 61 crew members from 22 countries. While the virus is believed to have come aboard there, its precise origin – and the identity of those carrying it – remains unclear. That uncertainty has fuelled intense speculation in parts of the media. One theory suggests a passenger may have been infected at a landfill site on the outskirts of Ushuaia, where tourists often visit to watch birds and where waste attracts rats and mice. Argentinian officials who spoke anonymously to some news outlets have said that is their leading hypothesis.

That suggestion, however, has not been well received locally.

“In Tierra del Fuego we have no record of hantavirus cases in our history,” Juan Facundo Petrina, the province’s Director General of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, said. “And specifically, since 1996 – when the National Surveillance System included it among mandatory reporting diseases – we haven’t had a single case in Tierra del Fuego.”  Petrina, who took on his position in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, has repeated this point in every press conference and interview he has given in recent days. He has stressed that his province is an unlikely source of the infection and that the endemic zone for hantavirus lies more than 1,500km (930 miles) to the north. “To begin with, we do not have the subspecies of the long-tailed mouse [which transmits the disease], nor do we share the same climatic conditions as northern Patagonia – neither in humidity nor temperature – for its development,” he said.  “And if rodents were to start moving, since they don’t respect geographical boundaries, it’s important to remember that we are an island.  “They would face the limitation of crossing the Strait of Magellan in order to infect local species, so that is an additional difficulty, beyond the climate.”