Barantin Tightens Commodity Traffic to Prevent Nipah Virus from Entering Indonesia

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Quarantine Agency (Barantin) has tightened the surveillance of the traffic of animal, plant, and other carrier media commodities to prevent the entry and spread of the Nipah virus as the number of cases in several South Asian countries increases.

Head of Barantin Sahat Manaor Panggabean said that strengthening vigilance was carried out through a risk management approach, modern quarantine systems, and cross-sector synergy to protect public health, food security, and national biological security.

"This step is part of efforts to prevent dangerous infectious animal diseases from entering and spreading in Indonesian territory," said Sahat as reported by ANTAR, A Friday, January 30.

Sahat explained that the Nipah virus is a highly pathogenic zoonotic disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans, with the main natural reservoir being fruit bats (Pteropus spp.). Transmission can occur through live animals such as pigs and horses, animal products, plants, the environment, and contaminated means of transport.

According to him, although no cases of Nipah virus have been found in Indonesia so far, ecological factors, trade traffic, as well as human mobility and carrier media still pose potential risks that need to be seriously anticipated.

In the regional context, Sahat said Barantin looked at the report of Nipah cases in humans in West Bengal, India, until the end of January 2026. This condition encourages strengthening vigilance at the entry and exit points, especially in the country's border areas.

He said Barantin together with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and related agencies ensured readiness through the improvement of human resource capacity, laboratories, and animal disease monitoring systems.

As a preventive measure, Barantin implements pre-border, border, and post-border controls, including the rejection or destruction of bat, pig, and horse imports from countries infected or not free of the Nipah virus, as well as risk-based surveillance of animal and plant products.

Based on quarantine traffic data, Barantin noted that there were no live bat imports into Indonesia and no imports of pigs throughout 2025.

"The income from pork comes from a number of countries that have been declared free of Nipah by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and are under strict quarantine supervision," he said.

He emphasized that the entry of the Nipah virus has the potential to pose a serious risk to health and trade, ranging from outbreaks in the livestock sector, economic losses due to livestock destruction, to restrictions on the export of Indonesian animal products.

"Therefore, a strong quarantine system is the main fortress of national protection," said Sahat.

Barantin appealed to business actors and the public to comply with quarantine procedures, not to illegally bring animals or animal products, and to report the discovery of sick animals or unnatural deaths as part of a joint prevention effort.