Health Minister Requests WHO Guidance for Hantavirus Case Screening

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Health Minister (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin has coordinated with the World Health Organization (WHO) after learning of the Hantavirus spread on a cruise ship sailing in Argentine waters.

Budi stated that the Ministry of Health has requested guidelines for handling and early detection from WHO, but he noted that the current Hantavirus spread is still concentrated on the cruise ship.

“We have coordinated with WHO. We requested guidance to conduct screening, but the input we received indicates that it is still concentrated on that ship, so it has not spread anywhere else,” Budi said at the Ministry of Health office in South Jakarta on Thursday (7/6/2026).

Budi acknowledged that Hantavirus is a dangerous virus, so the government needs to prepare for its handling and early detection, similar to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Budi believes that detecting Hantavirus will be easier because Indonesia already has many PCR machines.

Thus, the government can respond quickly if a Hantavirus spread occurs.

“So now we are still focusing on surveillance, so that if anything happens, we can act quickly,” he said.

The main reservoir of this virus is rodents, especially wild rats.

Transmission most often occurs when humans inhale airborne particles contaminated with urine, saliva, or rat faeces carrying the virus.

“What needs to be understood is that Hantavirus generally does not spread from human to human, but from a contaminated environment,” said Dicky when contacted by Kompas.com on Thursday (7/5/2026).

Although its transmission is not as easy as Covid-19, Hantavirus still needs to be vigilant because it can cause serious disorders in the body, especially the lungs.

Dicky explained that Hantavirus can trigger damage to blood vessels and fluid leakage in the lungs.

This condition causes fluid to enter the lung tissue, disrupting the breathing process and leading to death.