Deputy Health Minister: Hantavirus in Indonesia not like the variant on the cruise ship

Bandung (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono has assured that the 23 cases of Hantavirus found in Indonesia since 2023 are a mild variant and do not carry the deadly fatality rate seen on the MV Hondius cruise ship.

Dante explained that of the two Hantavirus variants worldwide, Indonesia has only detected the “Hanta Fever Renal Syndrome” type with a low mortality rate of around 15 per cent, far below the “Pulmonary Syndrome” variant whose fatality rate reaches 60-80 per cent.

“In Indonesia, we have found 23 cases since 2023, but all are the mild ‘Hanta Fever Renal Syndrome’. The Hantavirus like the one found on the cruise ship has not yet entered Indonesia,” said Dante at the West Java Health Office building in Bandung on Tuesday.

He elaborated that the transmission pattern of this virus is similar to leptospirosis, namely through rodent intermediaries such as rats, especially in post-flood environmental conditions with poor sanitation.

“Now we are making a policy that all suspected leptospirosis cases must also be tested for Hantavirus,” he said.

Although assuring that this outbreak is not dangerous like the COVID-19 pandemic, Dante declined to detail the distribution of the 23 cases, citing medical data confidentiality.

“No, it’s not dangerous. Cases are in several areas, but because this is confidential data, we are still keeping it,” he said.

“Human-to-human transmission where there were deaths—that has not yet been confirmed by the WHO. The three deaths on the cruise ship are still under investigation,” Dante added.