Dutch ornithologist identified as patient zero in deadly hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship
PTC News Desk: A Dutch ornithologist has been identified as the suspected patient zero of the deadly hantavirus outbreak linked to an Antarctic cruise expedition.
Leo Schilperoord, 70, and his wife Mirjam Schilperoord, 69, were reportedly on a months-long birdwatching trip across South America when they are believed to have contracted the Andes strain of hantavirus — a rare form capable of human-to-human transmission.
The couple, from the Dutch village of Haulerwijk, had been travelling across Argentina, Chile and Uruguay during a five-month trip that started in November last year. In late March, they returned to Argentina and reportedly visited a landfill near Ushuaia, a place often visited by birdwatchers looking for rare birds such as Darwin’s caracara.
Health officials believe the couple may have breathed in virus particles from rat droppings at the landfill. The area is thought to be home to long-tailed pygmy rice rats, which can carry the Andes hantavirus. Locals say the landfill is filled with garbage and has serious sanitation and rodent problems, but it still attracts wildlife enthusiasts.
“It is common for birdwatchers to visit landfills because there are many birds there,” local guide and photographer Gastón Bretti told Ansa Latina, according to the report.
A few days after visiting the site, the couple boarded the MV Hondius cruise ship from Ushuaia on April 1 along with more than 100 passengers, including scientists and birdwatchers.
Leo Schilperoord reportedly started feeling sick during the trip, suffering from fever, stomach pain, headache and diarrhoea. He died on the ship on April 11.
His wife, Mirjam, later got off the ship at Saint Helena Island and travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa. However, she became too ill to continue her KLM flight to the Netherlands. According to reports, she collapsed at the airport and died the next day.
- With inputs from agencies
