Hantavirus Outbreak: Dutch ornithologist Leo Schilperoord has been identified as the “patient zero” in a deadly hantavirus outbreak linked to the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, the New York Post reported. The 70-year-old was passionate about birdwatching, which led him to a landfill near the southern Argentine city of Ushuaia. At this place, he likely contracted the rare Andes strain of the virus, which is the only hantavirus known to spread human-to-human. He was the first patient to die of the virus on board the ship.
A Life Devoted to Birds
Schilperoord and his wife, Mirjam Schilperoord, 69, belonged to the Dutch village of Haulerwijk. They spent months travelling across South America. They visited Chile and Uruguay before returning to Argentina in late March 2026.
The couple was well-known in Dutch birdwatching circles. They co-authored a study on pink-footed geese for Het Vogeljaar, the Dutch ornithological magazine, in 1984.
Their expeditions took them worldwide. In 2013, they completed a 12-day private birdwatching and wildlife tour in Sri Lanka, later writing about spotting the rare Serendib Scops Owl.
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As per the reports, they visited the municipal landfill on March 27.
While locals avoid the trash-strewn site, it’s a pilgrimage spot for birdwatchers hoping to see the white-throated caracara, also called Darwin’s caracara, after Charles Darwin collected the first specimen there.
“It is common for birdwatchers to visit landfills because there are many birds there,” Gaston Bretti, a photographer and local guide, told Ansa Latina. “It’s a mountain of waste that today far exceeds the limit initially established by the authorities.”
Health authorities believe the landfill exposed them to the Andes strain of hantavirus, carried by long-tailed pygmy rice rats. The virus spreads through inhalation of aerosolised particles from rodent droppings and urine.
Unlike other hantaviruses, the Andes strain can pass from person to person through close, prolonged contact.
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Boarding the MV Hondius
The couple boarded the MV Hondius in Ushuaia on April 1, and within less than a week, Schilperoord began showing symptoms, including high fever, headaches, stomach pain and diarrhoea. His condition deteriorated rapidly. He died aboard the ship on April 11.
The Dutch-operated expedition ship was carrying 112 other passengers, many of them scientists and birding enthusiasts.
On April 24, during a scheduled stop at Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, Mirjam disembarked with her husband’s body. She flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, intending to catch a KLM connection to the Netherlands, but the airline staff deemed her too ill to board. She collapsed in the Johannesburg airport and died the following day, likely because of the virus.
Back in Haulerwijk, the April issue of the village magazine carried a tribute: “Like birds in flight. We will miss you and the stories”.
