In this Breitbart article, Amy Furr reports that the man identified as “patient zero” in a hantavirus outbreak aboard a South American cruise ship had reportedly visited a rat-infested landfill in Argentina before falling ill.
- The deceased man was identified as 70-year-old Dutch ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, who was traveling with his wife, Mirjam Schilperoord, on a bird-watching trip in South America.
- The couple reportedly visited a landfill near Ushuaia, Argentina, a city often called “The City at the End of the World.”
- Authorities suspect the landfill may have been the exposure site because long-tailed pygmy rice rats there can carry the Andes strain of hantavirus.
- Breitbart notes that the Andes strain is the only known form of hantavirus capable of human-to-human transmission.
- The couple boarded the MV Hondius on April 1 with 112 others, many of them bird watchers or scientists.
- Leo Schilperoord reportedly developed symptoms including fever, headache, stomach pain, and diarrhea several days later and died on the ship.
- The CDC says hantaviruses can cause serious illness or death and are commonly linked to exposure to rodent urine, droppings, saliva, or rarely bites and scratches.
- The World Health Organization warned there may be additional cases, though health officials have reportedly downplayed fears of a wider global outbreak.
- President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the virus and expressed hope that it was under control.
Read the full story: https://www.breitbart.com/health/2026/05/09/photo-patient-zero-who-died-hantavirus-outbreak-had-visited-rat-infested-argentine-landfill-city-end-world/
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