Hantavirus cases in Argentina have almost doubled in the past year, with the country recording 32 deaths alongside its highest number of infections since 2018.
According to CNN, the rise comes as Argentine authorities race to trace the footsteps of a couple who traveled extensively in the country and later died amid an outbreak of the virus on the cruise ship MV Hondius.
The cruise left port in Ushuaia, southern Argentina, on April 1 and is currently on its way to Spain’s Canary Islands.
Experts blame climate change and habitat destruction for the rise in cases of the disease, which is usually caused by exposure to the urine or feces of infected rodents.
The current season, which started in June 2025, has already seen 101 confirmed hantavirus cases, Argentina’s health ministry said, compared with just 57 during the same period last season.
experts believe environmental degradation caused by climate change and human activity is contributing to its spread by allowing the rodents that transmit the virus to thrive in new areas.
“Increasing human interaction with wild environments, habitat destruction, the establishment of small urbanizations in rural areas, and the effects of climate change contribute to the appearance of cases outside historically endemic areas,” the ministry said.
As per experts, extreme weather phenomena, such as droughts and episodes of intense rainfall in recent years, are also fueling the trend.
Eduardo López, an infectious disease specialist explained, “These rodents are better able to adapt to climate changes, which could facilitate the higher number of cases we are seeing.”
Temperature rises generate changes in the ecosystem that affect the presence of the long-tailed mouse, the main carrier of the virus in Argentina and Chile.
