Bali Health Office Antispasi Spread of Nipah Virus Through Pigs 

DENPASAR - The Bali Health Office (Dinkes) anticipates the spread of the Nipah virus through pigs, which are produced in large quantities on the Island of the Gods.

"So of course this is what we still secure, we also coordinate with the agriculture service for vigilance against the Nipah virus in animals," said Head of the Prevention and Control of Disease (P2P) of the Bali Health Office I Gusti Ayu Raka Susanti, Thursday, January 29.

He explained that the Nipah virus is a zoonosis disease that is transmitted through animals.

This virus is in bats as its host, and can be transmitted to pigs, such as the case of KLB in Malaysia in 1998, until finally they had to destroy many pigs because they can be transmitted to humans.

Although there has been no case of transmission of the Nipah virus through pigs in Indonesia, the Bali Health Office continues to increase vigilance considering that Bali is the largest producer of pigs in Indonesia.

"The Nipah virus is in the saliva of bats, if he eats fruit in the saliva there, then the rest of us or animals such as pigs that consume it can be infected, that's what we have to be aware of," said Raka.

In addition to preventing the spread of the virus from carrier animals, Raka said they tightened the entry of the virus from people's traffic through the supervision of the Health Quarantine Headquarters at airports and ports.

The most anticipated countries are Malaysia, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, and Thailand as countries that set the status of extraordinary events.

Until now, Bali has not found any cases of the Nipah virus, but the Bali Provincial Government ensures that it continues to conduct health surveillance to observe the disease.

All health facilities are also believed to be ready, including isolation rooms, health workers, and medicines.

"In Bali with 120 health centers, each district already has a regional hospital, then private hospitals are also ready with isolation rooms and their energy, we are confident that everything is ready because we have learned from COVID-19," said Raka.

Nipah virus itself has many similarities with COVID-19 such as flu-like symptoms and fever, but this virus can cause more serious complications, namely pneumonia, brain inflammation, and a mortality rate of 45-75 percent.

The Bali Provincial Government invites the public to participate in preventing the spread of this virus by practicing clean and healthy living, especially washing hands and not consuming any fruit.