As an effort to avoid for Zika virus to enter Bali island, the Medical Department of Bali Province has activated surveillance measures to detect the virus in advance.
Bali is aware of how to detect the virus due to its similarity with Dengue in the way it is spread which is through Aedes Aegypti mosquito.
Bali is one of the five areas with a high amount of dengue cases during 2015 in Indonesia.
According to the Head of the Medical Department of Bali, Doctor Ketut Surabaya,
the surveillance will focus on Bali’s four main entrances by setting up thermal scanners there.
The scanners will be placed to check body temperatures of passengers entering the arrivals.
Thermal scanner will project colours to the monitor and if it generates high temperature on passengers (>38 Celsius degree), it will set off the alarm.
If anyone who is suspected of carrying the Zika virus from the thermal scanner images, further examination will be undertaken at the harbour medical office.
If anyone is found to be carrying the virus, s/he will be escorted to the isolation room at Sanglah Hospital for tests and further checking by the doctor and medical staff.
“This is similar to what we did when previous infectious virus emerged in other countries, for instance is SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), as we know that Bali is a highly visited destination. We will commence the tight detection and prevention by activating the surveillance at Bali's entrances,” explained Ketut Suarjaya when contacted by Tribun Bali in Denpasar.
For information, the illness caused by zika virus has had outbreaks in South America with most cases in Brazil. According to WHO (World’s Health Organisation), cited by the Indonesian Health Ministry, as per the second week in 2016 there had been 3,893 zika virus cases, with a death toll of 49 to date.
The Ministry of Health admitted the zika virus has been found in Indonesia in 2015, which was suffered by a patient in Jambi. Initially, the patient was diagnosed of having dengue, as the symptoms of zika virus illness are very similar to dengue.
However, Ketut Suarjaya stated the surveillance should be able to prevent the virus entering Bali as there have been a high number of the thermal scanners deployed to many health senators as well as technicians to monitor the scanners.
