Jakarta, May 13 -- The Ministry of Health has placed 51 Health Quarantine Offices (BKK) across Indonesia on alert to anticipate the potential spread of hantavirus in the country.

The ministry's Acting Director General of Disease Control, Andi Saguni, said the main role of the 51 offices is to prevent and respond to the threat of infectious diseases entering Indonesia from abroad.

"If there is an increase in cases of a disease with epidemic potential in another country, quarantine offices will monitor and guard against the disease to prevent it from entering Indonesia," he said on Wednesday.

He explained that the system is designed to anticipate the spread of viruses from overseas, including through monitoring passenger arrivals from co...