MV Hondius 游轮上的汉他病毒暴发，与今年的气候变化有关，这些变化提高了传播的机率。在南锥地区，较湿润的年份长期以来一直与当地称为 ratadas 的鼠类族群暴增有关，而今年的暴增符合一种更广泛的疾病暴发模式，这种模式受气候变化、环境破坏以及高度连结的世界所塑造。巴塔哥尼亚长尾侏儒稻鼠，体重约一盎司，是目前已知唯一能在鼠类与人类之间、以及人与人之间传播的汉他病毒的主要宿主，而其他鼠类，例如 Pampas 长尾侏儒稻鼠，也能把病毒传染给人类。
气候变异影响 Oligoryzomys 的族群动态：干旱年份会减少食物并降低鼠类族群，而较湿润的年份会增加食物并提高病毒传播的机率。卫生官员已报告 101 例确诊病例，大多集中在阿根廷中部，并与由 Oligoryzomys flavescens 传播的 Lechiguanas 毒株有关，是前 12 个月期间数量的两倍。González Ittig 说，在多年强烈干旱之后，随著 El Niño 的到来，2025 年开始出现较湿润的循环，阿根廷中部降雨量高于平均，而巴塔哥尼亚在部分安地斯地区出现较湿润的情况，但其他地区仍持续存在降水不足。
研究人员表示，湿度上升、冬季较温和、暖季延长以及更强的降雨，正在为草原地区的鼠类生存、繁殖以及汉他病毒传播创造有利条件，范围包括阿根廷中部和乌拉圭部分地区。病例已开始在阿根廷新的地区出现，其中包括一些致命感染，科学家也在受农业和人类活动严重改造的地景中发现 Oligoryzomys 鼠类，包括科尔多瓦的一片小麦田。美洲的汉他病毒毒株没有疫苗，因此关键在于预防与流行病学监测，而将预防宣导扩展到巴塔哥尼亚以外，或许有助于减少这种疾病的扩散。
The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship is linked to climate shifts this year that helped increase the odds of transmission. Across the Southern Cone, wetter years have long been associated with rodent population booms known locally as ratadas, and this year’s boom fits a broader pattern of disease outbreaks shaped by climate change, environmental disruption, and a hyperconnected world. The Patagonian long-tailed pygmy rice rat, which weighs about one ounce, is the main reservoir of the only known hantavirus capable of spreading from rodents to humans and between humans, while other rodents such as the Pampas long-tailed pygmy rice rat can also transmit the virus to humans.
Climate variability shapes Oligoryzomys population dynamics: dry years reduce food and can lower rodent populations, while wetter years increase food and raise the odds of viral transmission. Health officials have reported 101 confirmed cases, most concentrated in central Argentina and associated with the Lechiguanas strain transmitted by Oligoryzomys flavescens, double the amount of the previous 12-month period. González Ittig said that after years of intense drought, a wetter cycle began in 2025 with the arrival of El Niño, and central Argentina saw above-average rainfall, while Patagonia had wetter conditions in some Andean areas but persistent precipitation deficits elsewhere.
Researchers say rising humidity, milder winters, longer warm seasons, and heavier rainfall are creating conditions that favor rodent survival, reproduction, and the spread of hantavirus in the Pampas region, including central Argentina and parts of Uruguay. Cases have begun to emerge in new parts of Argentina, including some fatal infections, and scientists have found Oligoryzomys rodents in landscapes heavily altered by agriculture and human activity, including a wheat field in Córdoba. There is no vaccine for the strains of hantavirus in the Americas, so the key is prevention and epidemiological surveillance, and expanding prevention campaigns outside Patagonia may help reduce the spread of the disease.