Scientific American: doubts grow over the bird-watching-landfill theory for the outbreak origin; species range, brief exposure window, and 30-year gap in Tierra del Fuego cases all argued

Scientific American (May 13): scientific commentary is increasingly skeptical of the hypothesis that the Dutch index couple's exposure occurred at the Ushuaia 'relleno sanitario' landfill bird-watching site. Key counter-arguments aggregated in the piece: (1) the long-tailed pygmy rice rat known to carry Andes virus has its established range in the northern Argentine provinces of Neuquen, Rio Negro and Chubut - 'no recorded cases of the virus have ever occurred in Ushuaia or in the region of Tierra del Fuego, and the city lies 1,500 km south of the endemic range'; (2) the couple spent only two days in Tierra del Fuego across their four-month trip, in contrast to extended stays elsewhere in Argentina and Chile during which exposure may have occurred; (3) Tierra del Fuego's last recorded human hantavirus case was in 1996. The Argentine Ministry of Health and Malbran Institute are sending a team to capture and test rodents in the suspected landfill site and along the broader route. The origin question is open.

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Author

Scientific American

Disease

hantavirus