Hantavirus outbreak: Antarctica's growing tourism interest increasing risk of contamination and diseases

Visiting Antarctica's ice-clocked environs is not something every tourist can accomplish - mainly due to the high costs and the time it takes. However, the frozen landscapes, which are melting away irreversibly, are bringing in more tourists each year. In the wake of the deadly hantavirus outbreak recently on the Dutch ship MV Hondius, health and environmental experts are concerned that the increasing number of visitors is also bringing illnesses and contamination to the continent. The World Health Organisation said that the affected ship left Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and visited Antarctica and several isolated islands.

"You can put a footprint in Antarctica, and it's still there 50 years later," said Claire Christian, executive director of the environmental group Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition. Tourism to Antarctica has grown tenfold in the past 30 years, according to the International Union of Concerned Scientists.

Many expeditions head to the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest-warming places in the world. From 2002 to 2020, roughly 149 billion metric tons (164 billion tons) of Antarctic ice melted per year, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A common route is to voyage south from Argentina toward Antarctica before heading north up the coast of Africa- the same route taken by the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was hit by the hantavirus.

Contamination risks and rules
So far, officials have not indicated any evidence of contamination from the MV Hondius in Antarctica. However, flocks of migratory birds brought avian flu from South America to Antarctica in recent years, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. That outbreak prompted the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators and others to tighten rules on tourists' conduct and hygiene to protect visitors from contamination. To protect the fragile ecosystem from invasive species, large and microscopic, visitors are told to stay away from animals and to avoid touching the ground with anything but their feet. 

Crews and passengers use vacuums, disinfectants and brushes to scrub shoes and equipment clear of bugs, feathers, seeds and microbe-carrying dirt. Cruise ships have been struck by outbreaks of diseases like norovirus, which can spread quickly in a ship's close quarters. In 2020, a COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess turned the cruise ship into an incubator for the then-mysterious virus.

Hantavirus on Hondius
WHO is investigating possible human-to-human transmission on the cruise ship, said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness. Officials suspect the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding, she said, and officials have been told there are no rats on board.  Antarctica is governed by the Antarctic Treaty, which in 1959 enshrined the territory as a scientific preserve used only for peaceful purposes. A series of rules that followed "aim to ensure that all visits, regardless of location, do not adversely impact the Antarctic environment or its scientific and aesthetic values," according to the treaty's secretariat.
(With inputs from PTI)