ANLIS-Malbran Institute mission to Ushuaia begins week of May 19; rodent-testing results expected within four weeks

Infobae (May 14): A technical team from the ANLIS-Malbran Institute, Argentina's leading public-health laboratory, will deploy to Ushuaia in the week beginning May 19 to capture and test rodents at the suspected landfill site near the city and along the route the Dutch index couple travelled during their four-month South American trip. Biologists from Malbran will work alongside specialists from the Tierra del Fuego provincial health authority. The mission scope includes sample collection, reconstruction of the suspected-case itineraries, analysis of natural reservoirs, and technical exchange with foreign laboratories (Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and the UK). Argentine officials estimate results will be available within four weeks. Targeted species: the long-tailed mouse (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), the main natural carrier of Andes virus in southern South America; questioned by Tierra del Fuego authorities as not native to the far south.

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Author

Infobae

Disease

hantavirus