RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ministry of Health has confirmed that the hantavirus strain found in Indonesia differs from the cases reported on the international cruise ship MV Hondius. Deputy Minister of Health, Dante Saksono, explained that the type identified in Indonesia is hantavirus-associated renal disease.

Dante said there are two types of hantavirus: renal and pulmonary. The cases on the cruise ship involved the pulmonary type, which has not been detected in Indonesia.

He noted that hantavirus renal disease presents symptoms similar to leptospirosis. “Patients experience fever, followed by jaundice, and typically develop kidney complications. We can treat that easily,” Dante said during a thematic field visit and media discussion titled Chasing the Zero‑Dose Child in Banda Aceh on Friday, May 22, 2026.

Dante emphasized that human‑to‑human transmission of hantavirus has not yet been proven. “We are implementing national mitigation measures, conducting education, and disseminating information and awareness about the symptoms of the renal form of hantavirus. As for the pulmonary form, that has not yet been identified,” he said.

Earlier, Health Minister Budi Gunadi stated that Indonesia had received information from the British government regarding a foreign national who was a close contact of a hantavirus‑positive patient on the MV Hondius. The individual was known to be working in Indonesia and was immediately traced by the government.

“We identified the individual on May 8, then tested them, and their condition is currently fine,” Minister Budi said in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

The government subsequently brought the foreign national to Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital for a comprehensive examination, which returned negative results. “However, the government still requires the individual to undergo temporary isolation to monitor the disease’s incubation period,” Minister Budi added.

He noted that Indonesia’s experience with the COVID‑19 pandemic has strengthened its surveillance capabilities against infectious disease threats. “The government is now faster at detecting potential infectious disease threats from abroad before they spread,” he said.

The MV Hondius cruise ship reported a hantavirus outbreak on May 2, 2026, during a voyage that departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 18 and docked in Tenerife, Canary Islands, on May 10.

The strain involved was the pulmonary type, which can cause severe respiratory illness and carries a higher fatality risk compared to the renal form. The ship later arrived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on May 18 for disinfection. (Gusti Panji)