CLUJ, Romania — Romanian health authorities have confirmed the country’s first cases of leprosy in more than 40 years, according to local reports and international health experts. The diagnoses involve two massage therapists, both Indonesian nationals, working at a spa in the northwestern city of Cluj.
The two individuals, aged 21 and 25, are currently receiving medical treatment. Authorities have also placed two other people under medical observation for potential infection. While their nationalities have not been officially disclosed, the focus of the public health response has centered on the spa and its recent contacts.
The case has drawn attention from global health experts due to Romania’s long-standing leprosy-free status. Professor Tjandra Yoga Aditama, former Director of Communicable Diseases at the WHO’s Southeast Asia regional office, highlighted the circumstances in a written statement. He noted that Romania had not reported a case for over four decades and that the new infections appear linked to recent travel from Asia.
According to Professor Tjandra, who referenced a Reuters report, one of the patients had recently traveled from Asia after caring for a mother who was hospitalized with leprosy for approximately one month.
“For this, it would be good if our Ministry of Health could trace at which hospital the mother of this case was treated, and also check the transmission pattern because it apparently spread to the mother’s child and was then brought to Romania,” he stated.
He outlined the swift containment measures taken by Romanian authorities: immediate treatment for the confirmed cases, medical surveillance for potential contacts, and the temporary closure of the spa pending further investigation.
A Persistent Public Health Challenge in Indonesia
The incident casts a spotlight on leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, which remains an enduring public health challenge in Indonesia. Despite global knowledge of the disease for over 3,500 years, Indonesia is currently among the top three countries worldwide with the highest number of new cases, alongside Brazil and India.
Data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Health for 2025 records approximately 10,450 new leprosy cases distributed across 38 provinces. The disease is classified as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), a group of infections that persist in areas of poverty and receive limited global health resources. Other NTDs of concern in Indonesia include schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), soil-transmitted helminths, and yaws.
“Leprosy and various neglected tropical diseases in our country are clearly one of the public health challenges that we must address,” Professor Tjandra added, expressing hope for an effective resolution.
For the global community and travelers, leprosy is a bacterial disease that is not highly contagious and is curable with multidrug therapy. Transmission requires prolonged, close contact with an untreated individual. The Romanian cases are a reminder of the interconnectedness of global health, where migration and travel can transfer public health issues across continents, even to regions where certain diseases have long been considered eliminated.
Hey Bali News provides contextual reporting on international events with links to Indonesia and relevance for the global audience in Bali.
