Naples, 12 May (LaPresse) – With the Ministry of Health’s circular on hantavirus, “we have reiterated the measures that are already in place and raised the alert level, precisely because the Ministry has acted in accordance with the principle of maximum caution, even though we are in a situation where the risk in Europe, as the ECDC states, is low”. So said Maria Rosaria Campitiello, director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Prevention, speaking on Radio Anch’io on Rai Radio 1. “In the circular,” explains Campitiello, “we have in fact also alerted the USMAFs. Usually, airports already have a whole series of procedures in place, such as on-board checks for any patients with symptoms, or ENAC circulars reminding staff that, where there is a suspected symptom, the USMAF must be notified, as they are the competent health authorities. The airline then notifies the sector operators, the sector operators notify the Ministry of Health, which has regional offices for each airport, and we put the entire surveillance system on alert. In the circular, we simply reiterated these measures."