Health Minister: Hantavirus Case in Jakarta Under Control, Close Contacts Monitored for 14 Days

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has assured that the government is continuing to closely monitor the foreign national who had close contact with the Hantavirus case in the Jakarta area. Although the test results are negative, the individual is still being isolated to pass the incubation period set by the government for two weeks, starting from 8 May 2026. “We will monitor until we are completely certain and can confirm that the person is safe,” Budi stated in a press release, quoted on Friday (15/5/2026). The Health Minister explained that the foreign national was known to have been on a foreign ship before arriving in Indonesia. The following day, on 8 May, the patient was identified and immediately evacuated to the Prof. Dr. Sulianti Saroso Hospital for Infectious Diseases (RSPI) for isolation. Although it had attracted public attention, Budi emphasised that Hantavirus is not easily transmitted between humans like Covid-19. “Indonesia has been much better in terms of surveillance and international cooperation since the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. Clinically, the disease caused by Orthohantavirus is generally transmitted through contact with rodents such as rats and shrews, either through bites or exposure to bodily fluids (saliva, urine, faeces). To date, there is no specific treatment for Hantavirus, so management is carried out symptomatically and supportively based on the symptoms that appear.