JAKARTA: Indonesian health authorities and doctors have called for people to remain vigilant amid the outbreak of illnesses caused by the hantavirus infection on board a cruise ship in Europe, as suspected cases spread to other regions including Asia.
Concerns about the zoonotic virus surfaced following reports obtained by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on May 2 about several passengers aboard Dutch vessel MV Hondius suffering from severe respiratory illness.
At least six of eight suspected cases from the cruise ship were later laboratory-confirmed as the hantavirus infections, WHO announced on May 8 as reported by AFP.
All confirmed cases were identified as being infected by the Andes strain of the virus, which is known to cause limited human-to-human transmission among close and prolonged contact primarily in Argentina and Chile.
Among passengers of the cruise ship were two Singaporean residents who were also on the same flight as a confirmed hantavirus case. They travelled from Saint Helena to Johannesburg on April 25, according to Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA), AFP reported.
The confirmed case did not travel to Singapore and died in South Africa.
The two Singapore residents later tested negative for the viral disease after being quarantined since early May after arriving in the city-state. They would remain in quarantine for 30 days from the date of last exposure and were to be tested again before being released.
Hantaviruses refer to zoonotic viruses that naturally infect rodents and are occasionally transmitted to humans, according to WHO. Transmission to humans occurs from contact with contaminated urine, droppings, saliva or, sometimes, bites of infected rodents.
Around the world, the health body estimated from 10,000 to over 100,000 infections occur each year, mostly in Asia and Europe. The case fatality rate reaches up to 15 per cent in Asia and Europe as well as 50 per cent in the Americas.
The rodent-borne disease had also been detected in Indonesia in the past two years, with dozens of patients infected.
According to the Health Ministry’s record, there were at least 23 hantavirus patients confirmed in the country of 251 suspected cases found since 2024. Three patients died within the period.
The number of cases detected so far this year were five, with ministry spokesperson Aji Muhawarman claiming the patients had no connection with cases detected on board of Hondius as they had no recent histories of travelling to other countries.
On May 8, the Health Ministry confirmed two patients with suspected hantavirus in Jakarta and Yogyakarta were later declared negative following laboratory testing.
“Until now, we haven’t recorded any more hantavirus cases in Indonesia,” Aji said, as quoted by Indonesian news outlet Kompas.com.
The spokesperson added there were no hantavirus human-to-human transmission cases reported in the country, as the virus’ strain mostly discovered in Indonesia was the Seoul strain.
Many hantavirus species have been identified worldwide, but only a limited number are known to cause human disease, such as the Andes strain, which is present in North, Central and South America.
This variant is known to cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, a rapidly progressive condition affecting lungs and heart.
The strain commonly found in Europe and Asia is known to cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which primarily affects kidneys and blood vessels.
Symptoms in adults and children often begin between one and eight weeks after infection and include fever, headache, muscle aches, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
There is no licenced specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for hantavirus infection, with care for patients partly focussing on management of respiratory, cardiac and kidney complications.
Paediatrician Piprim Basaraya Norso, who also heads the Indonesian Paediatric Society (IDAI), urged the public to not panic in the wake of Hondius’ hantavirus outbreak. To mitigate against the virus infection, he called on the people to keep food and environment health from exposure to rodent animals.
“In every outbreak of an infectious disease, the key is clean and healthy lifestyle,” Piprim said in an IDAI press briefing on May 8.
On May 10, Hondius arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands, where passengers and some of the crews on board will be evacuated and flown home after weeks at sea.
While classifying every person on board of Hondius as “high-risk contact”, the risk of virus transmission to the general public and the people of the Canaries remained low, said WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove, as reported by AFP.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who arrived in Spain on May 9 and is expected to oversee Hondius evacuation in the Spanish town of Tenerife, gave the same assurance and thanked the people of Tenerife for their solidarity.
“I need you to hear me clearly,” Tedros wrote in an open letter to the people of Tenerife on May 9: “This is not another Covid-19.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
