The Commission for Infectious Diseases has held a session to discuss the hantavirus cluster – Andes virus, saying the risk of it spreading to the country is low. The health system is ready to manage the possibility of such infection, the Macedonian Ministry of Health said on Friday.
The Ministry noted that the Public Health Institute has reagents for laboratory verification of the virus, as well as standard operational procedures for its diagnostics.
It added that the University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions holds the proper capacities and treatment of possible patients showing hantavirus symptoms, ensuring intensive care, mechanical ventilation and respiratory support.
The Andes virus, unlike other hantavirus variants, can be transferred from human to human after longer and closer contact, but transmission is not as fast and easy as with the coronavirus infections, reads the press release.
