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ndonesia banned the import of two types of apples from California, the US, on Monday, as they allegedly contained harmful Listeria bacteria.

The apples '€” Gala and Granny Smith '€” distributed by Bidart Bros. of Bakersfield'€™s packing house, have triggered a Listeria outbreak across 11 states in the US that killed three and caused illness in 28 people.

Dozens of pregnant women in the country reportedly suffered illness after consuming the apples and processed products of both types of apples recently.

At present, Indonesia does not import apples from the California plant, branded under Granny'€™s Best and Big B.

However, as they are also sold under other brand names and can be brought from other neighboring countries in small figures, preventive measures are considered necessary.

Trade Ministry director general for standards and consumer protection Widodo said that in line with the import ban, the government had also prohibited the distribution of the apples by domestic retailers and consumption by local consumers.

'€œWe will lift the import ban once the US declares they are safe to consume,'€ Widodo said in a press briefing at his office.

Indonesia is the latest country in Southeast Asia to announce the ban, following in the steps of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

Malaysia and the Philippines, for instance, went further by recalling the imported apples.

The local authorities in Thailand have already secured a shipment of US apples from the 2014 harvest and health officials are conducting inspections at agriculture shipment checkpoints there.

The issuance of the ban complies with an alert from the International Food Safety Authorities Network on Jan. 17, which demands the recall of internationally distributed apples and commercially produced, prepackaged caramel apples from the US due to them being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The bacteria, which can be found in raw milk, raw vegetables, fruit and red meat, can trigger serious and fatal infections in babies, children, sick people, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.

People infected by the bacteria may suffer short-term symptoms, such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea and diarrhea, which can lead to death in some cases.

Agriculture Ministry director general for agriculture processing and marketing Yusni Emilia Harahap said her office had begun laboratory checks on the apples from the US to anticipate the outbreak.

'€œWe have taken some samples in several places and will examine them in a laboratory. We hope to get the results on Jan. 30 and then reveal the findings,'€ she said during the briefing.

Based on official import permit records, no fruit importers had been granted the licenses to import Gala and Granny Smith apples supplied by the US'€™ Bidart Bros. packing house throughout this year.