Tracing the Trail of Hantavirus in Indonesia
The presence of hantavirus has come under scrutiny following a transmission incident that caused deaths on the cruise ship MV Hondius while sailing in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It turns out that this virus, originating from rodents, has long been detected in Indonesia.
Referring to Republika archives, this deadly virus has been developing in Indonesia since the 1980s. Its symptoms are similar to dengue fever.
“This virus has the potential to be developed into a biological weapon,” said Drh Irma Nurisa Ibrahim, a special hantavirus researcher from the Ecology Research and Development Centre, Department of Health, to Republika in 2009.
According to Ima, its easily transmissible nature, which can spread through the air (airborne), makes it dangerous if misused. From faeces, urine, even saliva of all types of rodents.
Once inhaled, humans can easily become infected. If dispersed into the air in certain quantities, many human victims could fall.
The context of Ima’s discussion on hantavirus, a virus long suspected of infecting rodents in Indonesia without the general public’s knowledge. Currently, hantavirus is suspected to have spread to several islands in the Thousand Islands archipelago.
This rodent-transmitted virus is not only dangerous to human health there, but also hazardous if misused.
In laboratories, this virus is classified in a category that requires quarantine with level four security. This security level is only one step below the protection for the Ebola virus, a deadly virus that once struck the African continent.
Ima Nurisa’s account above illustrates how dangerous this virus is. According to the Health Research and Development Centre, hantavirus began to attract global attention in 1951.
At that time, the Hantaan virus (HTNV)—one of the hantavirus variants—outbroke among United Nations (UN) troops stationed around the Hantaan River in South Korea. More than 2,000 US troops were infected at that time. Some of them died.
From there, hantavirus with its various variants began to spread around the world. It is suspected that the vector was through shipping routes.
In Asia, hantavirus takes the form of the Hantaan and Seoul (SEOV) viruses. Meanwhile, in Europe, it appears as the Puumala (PUUV), Dobrova (DOBV), and Saaremaa (SAARV) viruses.