Jakarta airport screens for coronavirus

Indonesia is screening travellers from overseas for a new of coronavirus as fears spre about a mysterious infectious disease.

rmal imaging equipment to detect abrmal body temperatures was installed at 38 Indonesian airports, including in capital Jakarta and Bali, and seaports in Bintan and Batam islands, near Singapore, said Health Ministry's Director General of Disease Control and Prevention Anung Sugihanto.

He said authorities will interview travellers, especially from China and Hong Kong, who have ia temperature of 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), followed by a health check.

China has identified 440 cases with nine deaths.  People in Wuhan have been vised t to leave city and to avoid crowds.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause common cold. Ors found in bats, camels and or animals have evolved into more severe illnesses.

According to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shortness of breath, chills and body aches are associated with more dangerous kinds of coronaviruses. Common symptoms include a runny se, heache, cough and fever.

Almost two million Chinese tourists visit Indonesia every year.

ministry has also instructed hospitals to conduct early detection, prevention, and quick response for patients found to be symptomatic with pneumonia akin to cases in China.

Its website is vising Indonesian travelers to China, including Hong Kong, Wuhan and Beijing, to take precautions such as avoiding fish markets or places where live animals are sold.

China says cause of Wuhan outbreak remains unkwn, but has sought to quash speculation that it could be a reappearance of SARS epidemic, which killed hundreds in 2002 and 2003.

Indonesia has t yet reported any local coronavirus infections but country was world's hot spot for avian influenza, both in birds and in humans, peaking in 2006 and 2007 with 146 deaths reported to World Health Organization.