Acute Respiratory Infections Dominate Flores Quake Health Caseload

Labuan Bajo — Acute respiratory infections are dominating reported illnesses among people displaced by the August earthquake on Flores, with Indonesia’s Health Ministry citing more than 25,000 cases across seven districts in East Nusa Tenggara as of 10 September 2026.

The ministry’s spokesperson Widyawati said the highest number of post-earthquake disease complaints were acute respiratory infections, recording 25,017 cases among survivors in Manggarai, East Manggarai, West Manggarai, Ngada, Nagekeo, Sikka and Ende regencies during a press conference at the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday, 10 September 2026, according to a report carried by Indonesian broadcaster Metro TV and other local media.

The health situation report came less than a month after a magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck near Nagekeo on 15 August 2026, damaging homes and public facilities and forcing tens of thousands of residents into temporary shelters across seven districts, according to BNPB and subsequent situation updates from Indonesian humanitarian organisations.

Medical response and respiratory caseload

According to Widyawati, acute respiratory infections were the most common illness among evacuees, followed by skin diseases and diarrhoea at shelter sites.

An independent situation report compiled by the Indonesia Humanitarian Country Platform (IHCP) and its partners, drawing on Health Ministry data as of 9 September, recorded a very similar figure of 24,435 respiratory infection cases across the same seven regencies, alongside hundreds of cases of other conditions such as animal bites that risk rabies transmission.

The ministry said it had mobilised medical teams and volunteers to reinforce local health services in Flores, where health centres and other facilities were damaged by the quake and its aftershocks.

Government data cited by IHCP and national media indicate that more than 46,000 people remained displaced across Manggarai, East Manggarai, West Manggarai, Ngada, Nagekeo, Sikka and Ende one month after the earthquake, with the disaster agency BNPB recording over 140 deaths and more than 1,600 injured across the affected districts.

Field hospitals and damaged clinics

National and local authorities have reported significant damage to health infrastructure in the seven affected districts, prompting the deployment of temporary facilities.

According to post-disaster reporting from Indonesian and international outlets, the Health Ministry set up two field hospitals in the Aeramo area of Nagekeo and in Ruteng, Manggarai, to provide safer spaces for treatment and basic surgery while aftershocks continued to rattle damaged buildings.

In addition to the field hospitals, the ministry and its partners deployed health workers focusing on primary care and psychosocial support, and supplied emergency tents, medical equipment, masks, gloves and supplementary food for infants and young children to evacuation locations.

Ongoing concerns in evacuation sites

Authorities and humanitarian organisations have warned that crowded living conditions and disrupted services in shelters heighten the risk of communicable diseases.

The Health Ministry said it was tightening sanitation inspections and basic medical services at evacuation posts to curb the spread of respiratory infections, diarrhoea and skin diseases among displaced residents.

BNPB and health officials have continued to update casualty and displacement figures as verification progresses, while emphasising the need for sustained primary care, protective equipment and disease surveillance across temporary shelters on Flores.

Sources

• Metro TV News – Kasus ISPA Dominasi Penanganan Medis Penyintas Gempa NTT
• Indonesia Humanitarian Country Platform – Laporan Situasi #9 Gempabumi dan Tsunami di Flores dan Sekitarnya
• Wikipedia – 2026 Flores earthquake
• NU Online – Sebulan Gempa NTT; 142 Meninggal Dunia, 1.603 Luka-Luka, 46 Ribu Warga Masih Mengungsi
• Merdeka – 7.492 Gempa Susulan Guncang Flores, Korban Meninggal Mencapai 100 Orang