Anticipating Hantavirus, Soekarno-Hatta Airport Tightens Surveillance on International Passengers

TANGERANG - The Main Health Quarantine Centre (BBKK) is tightening surveillance on international passengers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport to anticipate the entry of Hantavirus into Indonesia.

Head of BBKK at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Naning Nugrahini, stated that the surveillance is conducted through health declaration checks up to monitoring passengers’ conditions upon arrival at the airport.

“We at Soekarno-Hatta have already prepared. The first is through filling out the health declaration in the Satu Sehat application. From there, we will know the risk from that flight, whether there are risky individuals or not,” said Naning in a written statement on Monday (11/5/2026).

“Secondly, upon disembarking, there is observation of signs and symptoms through thermal scanners and visual observation,” she added.

If after these two stages a passenger suspected of being infected is found, the passenger will undergo further examination by a doctor.

“There, they can be isolated or undergo laboratory testing,” said Naning.

In addition to layered checks, Soekarno-Hatta Airport also has a special evaluation pathway for infectious diseases to handle passengers indicated to be carrying infectious diseases.

BBKK has also prepared special ambulances for infectious diseases for patient referral processes.

“In the infectious disease ambulances, there is a decontamination system so that viruses, bacteria, or germs from the person entering the ambulance whom we suspect can be decontaminated, thus preventing transmission to others,” she explained.

“So there are four countries where we are applying extra tightening if there are direct flights to Soekarno-Hatta,” said Naning.

Naning explained that Hantavirus is known to be transmitted through rodents such as mice, particularly via urine, saliva, and environmental contamination.

To date, no cases of human-to-human transmission of Hantavirus have been found.