Tourists travelling to Bali have been warned of new travel precautions after a recent spike in Nipah virus cases overseas.
Bali will screen all visitors arriving in the tourism hotspot, with health officials saying they will send travellers displaying symptoms like high temperature or respiratory tract infections to hospitals for further testing.
The current outbreak of the Nipah virus occurred in Kerala, southern India, and led to two deaths.
The virus is carried by bats and has a high mortality rate with no known treatment or vaccine, with the World Health Organisation estimating a 40 to 75 per cent fatality rate.
Symptoms of Nipah virus include fever, respiratory distress, headaches, sore throat, and vomiting.
Indian tourists are the second-largest group of foreign visitors to Bali, with around 280,000 visiting from January to August.
Bali’s chief health officer stressed vigilance against the Nipah virus and mentions temperature detection devices at the airport to identify potential cases.
The Nipah virus has not been identified in Indonesia, but its four to 14 day incubation period poses a concern to health officials.
Bali has now formed a team of specialists including neurologists and surgeons in preparation for any detected cases.
The Nipah virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs, or other human beings.
The virus was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore, which resulted in nearly 300 human cases and over 100 deaths, leading to the culling of more than one million pigs to control the outbreak.
The World Health Organisation has not reported new cases of the Nipah virus in Kerala since September 15th.