Ministry Of Health Strengthens Surveillance To Be Prepared For Nipah Virus

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) strengthens surveillance as an effort to be alert in dealing with the Nipah Virus which recently reportedly appeared in a number of neighboring countries.

"We are strengthening surveillance, especially in areas where there are many animals as a source of the Nipah virus, such as bats," said Director General of Disease Prevention and Control (Dirjen P2P) of the Ministry of Health Maxi Rein Rondonuwu as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, September 27.

Maxi said surveillance was carried out by mapping areas with lots of bats, such as Manado, which has a market for buying and selling bats and other animals for consumption.

In addition, his party has also strengthened surveillance in a number of areas directly adjacent to neighboring countries such as Malaysia, which were previously reported to have the Nipah Virus.

"We also make a circular regarding the sign of Nipah sick people. In principle, it is the same as other viruses, but if suddenly there are many incidents, it is an indication (of Nipah disease)," he said.

However, MAxi stated that currently no one has reported the occurrence of Nipah disease in Indonesia.

Likewise, with restrictions on visits from neighboring countries, his party has not made an appeal to relevant stakeholders to limit visits from abroad, because there has been no human-to-human transmission.

Previously, the Ministry of Health had issued a Circular Letter of the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health Number HK.02.02/C/4022/2023 concerning Vigilance of Nipah Virus Diseases.

Dalam surat edaran tersebut Kemenkes meminta Kantor Kesehatan Pelabuhan (KKP), Dinas Kesehatan, dan fasilitas pelayanan kesehatan (fasyankes) di daerah untuk melakukan pemantauan kasus dan negara terjangkit di tingkat global melalui kanal resmi https://infeksiemerging.kemkes.go.id dan https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news.

The Ministry of Health also asks relevant stakeholders to always increase supervision of people (awak, personnel, and passengers), transportation equipment, luggage, environment, vectors, disease-carrying animals in ports, airports and cross-border posts, especially those from infected countries.