Malaysia's Health Ministry said on Tuesday it will add a hantavirus tracker to the MySejahtera app's Disease Tracker feature if needed, as Deputy Health Minister Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib said officials are monitoring the situation closely. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Hanifah said the upgrade would make it easier for users to access real-time information on the disease. She said the situation remains under control and there are no indications the virus is spreading to Asia. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The MySejahtera Disease Tracker already lists dengue, tuberculosis, measles, hand, foot and mouth disease, Covid-19, human rabies and animal rabies. Officials linked the hantavirus concern to an outbreak on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The virus is rodent-borne and can infect humans through air contaminated with rat droppings, urine or saliva, the reports said. Hanifah also said the ministry is studying ways to increase the number of nurses and strengthen specialist nursing training to meet the needs of an ageing population. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Hanifah spoke after attending the national-level International Nurses Day celebration in Putrajaya on Tuesday. Her comments came as reports said Europe had intensified monitoring and isolation measures after the MV Hondius-linked outbreak. [1, 2, 3, 4]
WHO accounts quoted in the reports said evacuation and repatriation work from the ship had ended on Monday after 2 days, with 9 reported cases linked to the vessel and 7 confirmed infections. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday there was no sign of a large-scale outbreak, although the long incubation period means more cases could still appear in the coming days or weeks. [2]
