The Bali Provincial Health Office is anticipating the potential spread of the Nipah virus through pigs, which have large production areas across the island.
“We are maintaining vigilance and coordinating with the agricultural office to ensure heightened alertness against the Nipah virus in livestock,” said Head of Disease Prevention and Control at the Bali Health Office, I Gusti Ayu Raka Susanti, on Thursday.
She explained that the Nipah virus is a zoonotic disease transmitted through animals.
The virus is primarily carried by bats and can be transmitted to pigs, as seen during the 1998 outbreak in Malaysia, which ultimately led to the mass culling of pigs due to the risk of transmission to humans.
Although there have been no recorded cases of Nipah virus transmission through pigs in Indonesia, the Bali Health Office remains cautious, given that Bali island is the country’s largest pork-producing region.
“The Nipah virus is present in the saliva of bats. When bats eat fruit, their saliva can contaminate it, and then humans or animals such as pigs can become infected. This is what we need to be wary of,” Susanti said.
In addition to preventing transmission from animal carriers, the office is also tightening controls on potential virus entry through human movement, with monitoring conducted by the Health Quarantine Center at airports and seaports.
To date, no Nipah virus cases have been detected in Bali. Nevertheless, the Bali Provincial Government continues to carry out health surveillance to monitor potential transmission.
