Man Who Died in Hantavirus Outbreak Had Visited Rat-Infested Landfill
A man from the Netherlands who died during the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has been identified.
“Patient Zero” was ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, 70, who was with his wife, Mirjam Schilperoord, 69, on an extended trip to South America where they observed birds, New York Post reported Saturday.
The bird-watching couple was in Argentina in late March to visit a landfill a few miles from the city of Ushuaia, where people from around the world go in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rare white-throated caracara.
Ushuaia is considered the southernmost city in the world, earning it the nickname “City at the End of the World”.
“It was at the Ushuaia landfill that Argentine authorities suspect the Dutch couple of inhaling particles from the droppings of long-tailed pygmy rice rats, which carry the dreaded Andean strain of hantavirus – the only form known to be transmitted from human to human,” the article said.
THE Job following :
Four days later, on April 1, the couple boarded the MV Hondius from Ushuaia, with 112 others, many of whom were also birders or scientists. On April 6, Leo reported having a fever, headache, stomach pain and diarrhea. He died on board the ship five days later.
In a 2024 article on hantaviruses, the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated that they are known to cause serious illness and even death:
Hantaviruses can infect and cause serious illness in people around the world. People contract hantavirus through contact with rodents like rats and mice, especially when exposed to their urine, feces, and saliva. It can also be spread through a rodent bite or scratch, but this is rare.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned this week that there could be more cases in the near future after the three people on board the MV. Hondius died, AFP reported.
However, “[H]Health officials have played down fears of a wider global outbreak of the rat-borne virus, which is less contagious than Covid-19,” AFP said.
The CDC has classified the cruise ship-related outbreak as “level 3,” which is the lowest level of emergency, according to Breitbart News.
When a journalist request This week, President Donald Trump, if he had been informed about the virus, said yes and that it was hopefully under control:
“We have a lot of great people studying it. It should be fine, we hope,” he said.
