Jakarta, Feb. 3 -- Deputy Minister of Health Benjamin Paulus Octavianus emphasized strengthening health quarantine as a preventive step against the entry of the Nipah virus into Indonesia, following cases in India since September.

"Strict control is the most important thing. With tight control, our health quarantine must be strengthened. Whenever I visit any airport in Indonesia, I always go to our Health Quarantine Center. I check that at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, every terminal has it, for arrivals and departures. From what I have seen, it is good," he said at the Palace here on Monday.

He explained the Nipah virus is highly infectious and has a high fatality rate, although global case numbers remain relatively small, unlike those of CO...