It is feared that it will become a pandemic, the Hendra virus can be prevented, here’s how

TRIBUNNEWS.COM, JAKARTA – The emergence of consequent diseases Hendra Virus in the middle Covid-19 worried about being pandemic.

Despite the fact, the disease is rarely found in humans.

However, the case fatality rate (CFR) that occurs is relatively high, in the range of 50 percent.

For this reason, Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) Epidemiologist Laura Navika Yamani SSi MSi Phd gave a number of suggestions in preventing the transmission of the Hendra virus.

Transmission of the Hendra virus to humans begins from the natural reservoir of the virus, namely: bat that infects horses.

“Stool or urine bat 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,” said a written statement, Monday (30/5/2022).

Laura said that the transmission of the virus from horses to humans is easier than bat to humans.

This is because horses and humans are both mammals. Because the cause is known, the effort that can be done is to maintain cleanliness and endurance.

“In particular, people who have direct contact with livestock such as horses, must maintain the hygiene and environmental sanitation of livestock,” he added.

Read also: Five Facts about the Hendra Virus, Originated from Animals until Vaccines and Cure Have not been Found

Washing hands before eating and not touching the T-Zone on the face is also a preventive measure that is expected to be used.

So far according to Laura, the vaccine from Hendra Virus it has been found, but only limited to animals. For this reason, optimization can be done by vaccinating to avoid the spread of the Hendra virus.

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 explained.

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