After the decline in positive cases of Covid-19, the presence of the disease caused by the Hendra virus is feared to be the cause of the start of a new chapter of the pandemic. In fact, although it is rarely found in humans, the case fatality rate (CFR) that occurs is actually quite high, in the range of 50 percent.
With this fact, Laura Navika Yamani, an Epidemiologist at Airlangga University (Unair), gave advice in preventing the transmission of the Hendra virus, which is known to have originated from a horse.
“Bat droppings or urine that fall on horse food grass can cause horses to become infected with the Hendra virus. Humans can be infected with this virus when exposed to fluids or droplets from horses infected with the Hendra virus,” Laura said in a written statement received suarasurabaya.netSunday (29/5/2022).
A lecturer at the Faculty of Public Health (FKM) Unair also explained that the transmission of the virus from horses to humans is easier than bats to humans. This is because horses and humans are both classified as mammals. Meanwhile, he continued, because the cause is known, the prevention efforts that can be done are to maintain cleanliness and endurance.
“Especially for people who have direct contact with livestock such as horses, they must maintain the hygiene and environmental sanitation of livestock. Washing hands before eating and not touching the T-Zone on the face is also a preventive measure that is expected to be used,” he added.
Regarding the vaccine from the Hendra virus, Laura emphasized that currently it is only limited to animals. For this reason, optimization can be done by vaccinating animals to avoid the spread of the Hendra virus.
For information, the virus originating from the Pteropus bat was first isolated in an outbreak in 1994 in Brisbane, Australia. Although no cases have been found in Indonesia, Laura advised the public to remain vigilant and start improving personal hygiene.
“At that time, it was found that horse and human deaths were caused by this virus. After further investigation, the Hendra virus is zoonotic, which means it can move from animal to animal, or from animal to human,” he concluded.(ant/iss)
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