Who was patient zero on the cruise ship where hantavirus broke out, and how did they get infected?
An expedition in search of a rare bird cost a married couple their lives.
Ornithologist from the Netherlands, Leo Schilperoord. Photo: Leo Schilperoord/ Facebook
The ornithologist from the Netherlands, Leo Schilperoord, is considered patient zero during the hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship, reports The New York Post.
The 70-year-old man and his 69-year-old wife, Mirjam, were on a five-month journey through South America. They landed in Argentina on November 27, visited Chile and Uruguay, and returned to Argentina on March 27, where they embarked on an expedition for birdwatching.
They visited a landfill near the city of Ushuaia. This place is avoided by locals but is a pilgrimage site for ornithologists from around the world looking for a rare bird — the White-throated Caracara, nicknamed "Darwin's Caracara" in honor of the famous evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin, who first described the species.
Argentine authorities believe it was at the Ushuaia landfill that the couple inhaled particles of feces from long-tailed rice rats, which carry a dangerous strain of hantavirus (Andes virus) — the only form capable of human-to-human transmission.
On April 1, the couple boarded the MV Hondius vessel in Ushuaia along with 112 other passengers, many of whom were also scientists or bird enthusiasts. On April 6, Leo reported fever, headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. He died on the ship five days later.
Mirjam disembarked from the ship with Leo's body on April 24 during a scheduled stop on Saint Helena Island in the Atlantic Ocean. She flew to Johannesburg (South Africa) and was supposed to transfer to a KLM flight to the Netherlands but never made it home. The crew deemed her condition too serious for the flight and removed her from the plane. She lost consciousness at the airport and died the next day.
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