The sequencing of the hantavirus found on the MV Hondius ship confirms that it is the Andes strain, recognized for its high virulence and contagiousness. However, mutations have been ruled out, providing a clear basis for future research.

A team of biologists in Switzerland, led by the Spanish Francisco Javier Pérez-Rodríguez, has worked quickly with samples from one of the infected to sequence the virus.

According to information collected by the Spanish newspaper El País, the virus keeps a black box in its gut with crucial information, through which it can help identify how it spread, why so many people have become ill and how long it could have been circulating before its detection.

Using advanced technology (Illumina), which identifies mutations, variants and performs a complete sequence of the virus, it was possible to confirm the stability of the strain and its similarity to previous cases studied in Argentina.

“The sequence clusters closely with isolates from the Andes already described, especially with those from Argentina 2018?2019, which suggests that it is not a very divergent variant nor a totally new strain,” explained Estanislao Nistal Villán, researcher in the virology group at the CEU San Pablo University.

Nistal refers to an outbreak that occurred in Patagonia and that surprised the scientific community due to its high contagion, which began on a birthday. There were a total of 34 infections and 11 deaths, El País recalls.

Epidemiological implications

The actual sequencing is only the first step; More analysis is required to understand the transmission dynamics of the virus.

Experts are analyzing the genetics of other patients to identify if the infections are recent or if they originated from different independent events.

WHO on the same line

The World Health Organization (WHO) also stated that there is currently no evidence that the hantavirus that caused an outbreak on the cruise ship has mutated to be more serious or transmissible.

“What they tell me, and what they have already said, is that they have not identified any changes that suggest a modification of the virus that makes it more transmissible, more serious, or anything like that,” said Dr. Van Kerkove, WHO's director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.

However, as a precaution, the WHO recommends that those who were on board the ship quarantine for 42 days to prevent the possible spread of hantavirus.

It is stressed that the overall risk to the public remains low.

Canada confirms a positive case of hantavirus

The National Health Agency of Canada confirmed this Sunday that one of the four Canadians who returned home from the cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak tested positive for the virus, reported the Associated Press (AP).

The positive test result comes a day after British Columbia's provincial public health officer said the person had received a "presumptive positive" but that further testing would be done at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

A second person, who was traveling with the confirmed case, tested negative, according to the statement. Both people, a couple in their 70s from the Yukon, are hospitalized in Victoria. They are isolated.

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