Health authorities in Argentina order quarantine ship over mpox virus fears

Health authorities in Argentina have ordered the isolation of a cargo ship travelling on the Paraná River after a crew member was reported with symptoms compatible with mpox diseasá.

The Ina-Lotte cargo ship has been quarantined at Rosario's San Lorenzo port as an investigation gets underway, said Analía Chumpitaz, director of Health Promotion and Prevention for Santa Fe Province, on Wednesday.

“A case that was reported when the ship entered the canal. Last night [Tuesday] a border health unit boarded the ship to take a sample and by midday approximately we will have the result,” Chumpitaz explained at a press conference.

In the meantime, “people are not allowed to get off the ship,” she said, adding that the boat remains “in quarantine” and anchored in the Paraná River at the entrance to Rosario's San Lorenzo port, around 310 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires.

The cereal cargo ship departed from the city of Santos, southeast Brazil, flying the Liberian flag. The number of crew members on board was not supplied by the authorities.

The patient who showed suspicious symptoms was quickly isolated from the rest of the crew, according to health protocols, Argentina’s Health Ministry said in a statement.

Local outlet Perfil reported that the sick sailor had been transported via boat to a nearby hospital.

Since 2022, Argentina has recorded few cases of mpox, but none of the variant recently detected in Africa, which prompted a special alert from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“So far there is no such variant circulating here,” Chumpitaz explained.

Argentina has reinforced all epidemiological surveillance measures, especially at border areas, said the National Health Ministry.

On August 14, the WHO issued an international public health alert for an outbreak of mpox that originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo and, for the moment, has been limited to Africa.

Clade IB is the most dangerous and contagious of the strains identified so far.

– TIMES/AFP