Argentina is expanding its investigation into the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak in the western province of Mendoza in April, the health ministry said Friday.
Hantavirus is a rare rodent-borne disease with several strains of varying severity.
The outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondias is linked to the Andes hantavirus strain, which is endemic in parts of Argentina and Chile, although not in Mendoza.
At least 11 people aboard the ship became infected after it set sail from the southern Argentinian city of Ushuaia in April, and three died.
Scientists are reconstructing how the virus spread
Scientists from Argentina’s leading center for infectious diseases, the Malabran Institute, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will conduct a field study in the city of Malargue, Mendoza, from June 8-12, officials said.
Argentine scientists, along with CDC experts, will trap and test rodents to trace the origins.
Laboratory analysis is also ongoing on more than 100 rodents caught in Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego last month.
Investigators are trying to determine how the virus spread, including tracing the movements of a Dutch couple believed to be first infected.
Before boarding the cruise they traveled to Argentina and Chile.
The MV Hondius was en route from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Cape Verde when its voyage was disrupted due to the pandemic.
Experts suspect that the disease is spread through contact with the feces or urine of infected rodents.
WHO says there is no risk of epidemic
Officials said it may never be possible to determine the exact origin of the outbreak, but tracing the chain of transmission will help understand the spread and management of the disease.
Officials in Ushuaia have rejected suggestions that the virus originated there, saying that Tierra del Fuego has not recorded any cases of hantavirus in three decades.
Although Andes hantavirus has a mortality rate of up to 30% and there is no approved treatment or vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the outbreak does not pose the threat of a pandemic.
Edited by: Rana Taha