Couple killed in hantavirus outbreak ‘contracted it during bird watching trip’

The couple went birdwatching in Ushuaia, Argentina before embarking on MV Hondius (Picture: Getty Images)

A Dutch couple who died from hantavirus after sailing on a doomed cruise ship are reportedly believed to have caught the illness while birdwatching.

Argentine officials revealed their government’s leading theory is that the two MV Hondius passengers carried the rat-virus on board after birdwatching in the city of Ushuaia, Associated Press reports.

The pair, both 69, visited a landfill site during the trip and may have been exposed to rodents carrying the deadly infection.