"(The case) is still concentrated on that ship. So it has not spread anywhere else. We are preparing for the screening," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin remarked on Thursday.
He explained that the screening will take the form of rapid tests, similar to those used during the COVID-19 pandemic, or reagents used in PCR machines.
For now, he said, his ministry is still focusing on surveillance.
On Monday (May 4), the WHO said it was working alongside several countries and cruise ship operators to address cases of hantavirus infection identified on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
WHO's Acting Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, Maria Van Kerkhove, informed that as of May 4, six suspected cases had been reported, including three deaths.
One patient is being treated in an intensive care unit in South Africa, while two others remain on board and are expected to be evacuated for medical treatment, she said.
According to her, about 150 people, including passengers and crew, are on board the ship.
The ship is currently off the coast of Cape Verde. The WHO, along with authorities in Cape Verde and the Netherlands, as well as the ship's operator, is arranging the evacuation of two patients to the Netherlands, Van Kerkhove continued.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced it will receive the cruise ship MV Hondius in the Canary Islands after a reported hantavirus outbreak on board.
"The WHO, in collaboration with the European Union, has requested the Spanish government to receive the MV Hondius in the Canary Islands," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday (May 6).
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Translator: Mecca Yumna, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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