A hunt for rare birds, a visit to a landfill, a deadly outbreak: how Leo Hilperod became hantavirus patient zero

Dutch ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, whose lifelong pursuit of rarity and beauty ended due to the global health emergency, has been identified as patient zero of a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, according to Argentinian authorities.Authorities believe the 70-year-old and his wife Mirjam Schilperoord, 69, contracted the virus in late March when they went birdwatching at a landfill outside Ushuaia.

The couple from Hollewijk spent five months traveling across South America. They first arrived in Argentina on November 27, then passed through Chile and Uruguay before returning to Argentina for another birding trip.The Schilperoords are long-time bird enthusiasts and co-authored a 1984 study on pink-footed geese in the Dutch ornithological magazine Het Vogeljaar. They also traveled to Sri Lanka in 2013 on a private birding and wildlife tour and spotted the rare Serendi Scops Owl.On March 27, the couple visited a landfill outside Ushuaia that attracts birdwatchers looking for the white-throated caracara, also known as the Darwin caracara after Charles Darwin.Authorities suspect the couple inhaled virus particles in the feces of long-tailed pygmy rice rats carrying the Andean strain of hantavirus, the only known virus that can spread from person to person.The New York Post quoted photographer and local guide Gastón Bretti as saying: “It is very common for birdwatchers to visit the landfill because there are so many birds there.” He added, “It is a mountain of garbage that now far exceeds the limits originally set by the authorities.”Four days later, the couple boarded the MV Hondius in Ushuaia on April 1, along with more than 100 passengers, many of them birdwatchers and scientists.Leo Schilperoord developed fever, headache, stomach pain and diarrhea on April 6 and died on board the ship five days later.On April 24, Mirjam Schilperoord disembarked the ship with her husband’s body during a planned stop at the Atlantic island of St. Helena. She later took an Airlink flight to Johannesburg and was about to catch a KLM flight to the Netherlands, but airport staff discovered she was too ill to continue traveling. She collapsed at the airport and died the next day.On May 2, when the World Health Organization first reported a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses, the MV Hondius was carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries. At that time, 34 passengers had already landed on the Atlantic island, and the ship continued to sail to Cape Verde.The evacuation, which later resulted in the repatriation of 94 people, came 41 days after the ship left southern Argentina and nine days after the first positive test for hantavirus.The MV Hondius then departed Tenerife for the Netherlands after the remaining passengers and several crew members were evacuated.“Like a bird in flight,” read an obituary published in the Haulerwijk Country Magazine. “We will miss you and your stories.”