Reacción a "Two studies detail how the hantavirus outbreak spread on board the Hondius and link its genetic lineage to Patagonia"

Hantaviruses are transmitted via aerosols originating from rodent excretions or secretions; these viruses are geographically linked to their hosts. The articles suggest that, contrary to other assumptions, the genome of the Andes virus is similar to that of the cases that emerged on the cruise ship, suggesting that there has been the international spread of a virus that was already known to be capable of human-to-human transmission under certain conditions. However, other hypotheses regarding the infection are also put forward, such as the existence of mixed viral populations or more than one zoonotic infection.

Another important point is the overlap in the incubation period for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can last up to six weeks. This raises the possibility of an infection prior to boarding or some other form of exposure during the early stages of the voyage, which does not rule out the presence of rodents or other as yet unknown reservoirs on board the ship. This gives rise to two likely scenarios: one is that a zoonotic infection was transmitted to humans before or during the early stages of the voyage, and that subsequent transmission then occurred from person to person.

Be that as it may, we need scientific information that will enable us to make further progress by conducting epidemiological surveillance of the geographical areas where rodents are present, broadening our focus to include other, as yet unknown, hosts, carrying out sero-epidemiological studies of human populations to assess geographical distribution, and sequencing the complete viral genome.