As health officials around the world rush to treat and contain the hantavirus outbreak from a cruise ship, they will likely look at how Argentina headed off a similar outbreak and minimized its spread.
From November 2018 through February 2019, the country experienced an outbreak that resulted in 34 confirmed infections and 11 deaths all linked back to the Andes virus, the same hantavirus strain believed to have been found in the patients from the cruise ship.
The spread in Argentina at the time was mostly driven by three sick individuals that attended crowded social events while symptomatic, according to a 2020 study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Gustavo Zaninelli/AP – PHOTO: The road that leads to Epuyen, Argentina, Jan. 11, 2019.
During the Argentina outbreak, which occurred during the country’s spring and summer, cases occurred between people that sat close to each other at a birthday party, attended a funeral together or had other close contact interactions, according to the study.
Argentinian health officials immediately stepped up and took measures to contain the infections: isolation for those sick and quarantine measures for those exposed. One Argentine judge went as far as to order 85 residents of a remote Patagonian town to stay at home for a month.
Residents were also urged to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the virus.
Gustavo Zaninelli/AP – PHOTO: Signs that read in Spanish “don’t pass” are posted on the doors at the local hospital in Epuyen, Argentina, Jan. 11, 2019.
These efforts decreased spread significantly, according to the report.
Health officials this week in several countries with confirmed and suspected cases, such as the Netherlands and Spain, have taken similar approaches to those in Argentina year ago and have isolated the patients in secure medical facilities while also working to track their movements.
The MV Hondius cruise ship carrying the remaining passengers was scheduled to dock in the Canary Islands Saturday in an isolated section. The plan as of Friday was to transport those passengers on isolated flights back to their home nations, according to the Spanish government.
Hantaviruses are usually spread through rodents, including rats and mice, mostly from exposure to their urine, droppings or saliva. Although the viruses can spread through a rodent bite or scratch, such infections are rare, the CDC says.
Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, the Andes strain, according to the WHO.
What to know about hantavirus amid suspected cluster aboard cruise ship
The hantavirus causes two syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
HPS symptoms typically appear from one to eight weeks after contact with the virus, with early signs including fever, fatigue and muscle aches, according to the CDC. Half of HPS patients will experience headaches, chills, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Gustavo Zaninelli/AP – PHOTO: A man wearing a mask waits for clients at his shop, with a sign posted that reads in Spanish “We are all family in Epuyen, be supportive, use a mask” in Epuyen, Argentina, Jan. 11, 2019.
The CDC says that between four and 10 days after the initial phase of illness, the late symptoms will appear, including coughing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest as the lungs fill with fluid.
About 38% of people who develop HPS respiratory symptoms may die from the disease, according to the CDC.
