How Argentina is tracing hantavirus from the lab to the outbreak zone

An aerial view shows Bariloche Zonal Hospital in San Carlos de Bariloche, where a patient infected with hantavirus was receiving intensive care, May 10, 2026. (AFP)

A road sign marks the entrance to Epuyen in Chubut province, the village where a deadly hantavirus outbreak unfolded in 2018-2019, May 9, 2026. (AFP)

An aerial view shows land scarred by wildfire damage near Epuyen, where residents have been rebuilding while following health guidance aimed at reducing hantavirus risk, May 9, 2026. (AFP)

The beached Saint Christopher tugboat sits in Ushuaia Bay, a familiar landmark in the city seeking to move past its association with the cruise-linked hantavirus outbreak, May 13, 2026. (AFP)

An aerial view shows Ushuaia harbour in Tierra del Fuego, the southern Argentine city linked to the departure of the MV Hondius cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak, May 13, 2026. (AFP)

Laboratory technician Luciana Plum works inside a polymerase chain reaction room in Cordoba, part of the scientific effort tracking hantavirus and its transmission patterns, May 13, 2026. (AFP)

A preserved rodent specimen is handled at a research laboratory in Cordoba, where scientists study the carriers linked to hantavirus risk in Argentina, May 13, 2026. (AFP)

Victor Diaz, identified by health authorities as patient zero in the 2018-2019 hantavirus outbreak in Epuyen, uses a chainsaw on his farm in La Rinconada, Chubut province, May 9, 2026. (AFP)

Hantavirus survivors Isabel Diaz and her father Victor Diaz pose at their farm near Epuyen, years after the 2018-2019 outbreak that killed 11 people, including members of their family, May 9, 2026. (AFP)

An aerial view shows Epuyen and the surrounding valley in Chubut province, a landscape still shaped by the memory of one of Argentina’s deadliest hantavirus outbreaks, May 9, 2026. (AFP)

A technician prepares samples beside gel electrophoresis equipment at a research laboratory in Cordoba, where testing helps build the scientific picture behind Argentina’s hantavirus response, May 13, 2026. (AFP)

Source: AFP

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