Tierra del Fuego hantavirus surveillance operation launched in Ushuaia

Argentina's National Administration of Laboratories and Institutes of Health (ANLIS) "Doctor Carlos Malbrán" sent a field team to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, to capture wild rodents as part of an environmental surveillance operation following a hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship HV Hondius. The operation, coordinated with the provincial Ministry of Health's Directorate of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, placed about 120 Sherman traps across three forested sites to collect species such as Oligoryzomys longicaudatus, Abrothrix hirta and Abrothrix olivacea.

Captured animals are placed in a field laboratory where blood and tissue samples are taken under strict bio‑security protocols, including disposable coveralls, high‑efficiency masks and autonomous breathing systems. Samples are frozen at –80 °C, shipped in triple‑sealed containers to the central Malbrán laboratory in Buenos Aires for serological testing and RT‑PCR analysis to detect hantavirus antibodies and viral RNA. The aim is to confirm whether the virus is circulating in the province, where no confirmed cases have been recorded since the disease entered national surveillance in 1996. Field work will conclude within a week, with lab results expected shortly thereafter.