90-Second Read: Argentina's icy outpost at the end of the world fears the Hantavirus will chill tourism

The city of Ushuaia in Argentina, which bills itself as the "end of the world," has found itself at the center of a global media storm involving a deadly Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise that... Several travel agents said that fears about the Andes variant of the Hantavirus have already caused some Americans and Europeans to scrap cruise bookings for next season. Monday's start of field work to detect the possible presence of the Hantavirus in a province that has never registered a case of it comes nearly two weeks after Argentina's Health Ministry first announced the scientists would travel. The wind-lashed city that bills itself as the "end of the world" now fears for its future.

Many residents of Tierra del Fuego, lured in the 1970s by tax breaks to the rugged archipelago split between Argentina and Chile, remember when Antarctic travel meant naval patrols and research expeditions. Argentina's apparent lack of urgency in hunting for the origin of the outbreak has perplexed experts overseas. Here in Ushuaia, authorities argue the most logical source of contagion is the Patagonian region that spans southern Chile and three Argentine provinces, where the same Andes Hantavirus identified in the cruise outbreak circulates. Today, the white continent routinely tops bucket lists of vacationers from around the world.

USHUAIA, Argentina (AP), Travelers hoping to catch a glimpse of Magellanic penguins and humpback whales have journeyed in greater numbers every year to Ushuaia, the main Antarctic cruise hub at the southernmost point of Argentina. In the 2025-2026 season, more than 135,000 did, according to Argentine port authorities, many hoping to experience the world's largest ice sheets before they melt. Ninety percent of Antarctic cruises depart from Ushuaia, and the city says it relies on tourism for over 25% of its revenue. But health officials say they have no record of the Dutch couple visiting those endemic areas during the incubation period for the virus, estimated to be between nine and 45 days before the arrival of symptoms on April 6.

The government's scrapping of trade barriers has battered its mainstay electronics production, while its strengthening of the local currency has given Argentines more spending power abroad, discouraging tourism at home that keeps Ushuaia afloat during the low season. In recent days, they've stressed that all is well in Argentina's treasured tourist destinations. A decade ago, just over 38,400 Antarctic cruise passengers set out from Ushuaia, a city of 80,000.