Multiple reports say a 70-year-old Dutch ornithologist, Leo Schilperoord, is the likely “patient zero” in a hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. Sources including France 24 and India Today describe him as the first person to die on the ship. Authorities and international health officials are said to be working from the assumption that Schilperoord and his wife became infected before or around the time they boarded the vessel.
Several outlets link the suspected exposure to a birdwatching trip near Ushuaia in Argentina, in the Tierra del Fuego region. Breitbart and The Sun report that the birdwatching was conducted at or near a landfill site, while IOL similarly says the couple visited a landfill searching for exotic birds shortly before boarding. Times of India adds that investigators suspect infection came from rat droppings encountered during that trip.
The outbreak is reported to have led to multiple deaths and triggered a wider health alert. France 24 notes the World Health Organization is currently among those favoring the “patient zero” theory while details of the infection route are investigated.
