Badan swasta perlu wujud pelan kontingen pandemic selsema burung
0 Comments Published by TasekPauh Blogspot on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 12:18 AM.
Private Sector Urged To Set Up Birdflu Contingency Plan
He said although the government was fully prepared, private sector awareness towards this disease was still low as they were unaware of the seriousness of its impact, should the disease hit any country in the region.
"What we do not have is the cooperation from the private sector. They are not fully aware of the risks.
"We hope the private sector in Malaysia would put in place the contigency plan in the event of a pandemic avian influenza hitting Malaysia," he told reporters after officiating the Malaysian Society of Gastrointestinal Diseases here, Monday.
He said the Ministry had recently conducted a briefing with representatives from various business organisations on the urgent need to set up an action plan in case of a birdflu pandemic.
On the update of the birdflu outbreak in the country, Dr Chua said all the four patients admitted to hospitals following contact with dead chickens were tested negative for birdflu.
He added that the flock of chicken which were suspected to have died of birdflu in Kuala Terengganu last Saturday were also tested H5N1 negative.
"In Sungai Buloh, we have not detected any case of human bird flu. The four patients admitted will be allowed to go back if their fever drops today and returns to normal.
"This is another good sign in Malaysia. Every time they see dead chicken, they come to hospital," he said.
He added that the Ministry was also monitoring health conditions of the frontliners involved in culling and monitoring works on a weekly basis.
"There are some 200,000 of them, health officers, veterinary officers who are involved in culling and the police," he said.
Asked about the outcome of the 2nd Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) Health Ministers Meeting in Sydney, Australia on June 7 and 8 which he attended, Dr Chua said the member countries agreed to cooperate to fight against any potential global bird flu pandemic.
They also reaffirmed commitment to share samples of any new birdflu strain in the effort to safeguard humans from the deadly pandemic.
Dua dimasukkan hospital - Langkah berjaga2 selsema burung
0 Comments Published by TasekPauh Blogspot on Monday, June 11, 2007 at 6:16 AM.
Two more hospitalised over bird flu symptoms
PETALING JAYA, 10 June - A teenager in Terengganu who reared poultry that have since died has been admitted to hospital for fever and cough.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said in a statement Sunday that the Terengganu Health Department had reported that at 2pm on Saturday, a 16-year old boy from Seberang Takir, whose chickens and ducks had died, was admitted to the Kuala Terengganu Hospital.
He added that a specimen had been sent to the Institute for Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur to test for the avian flu virus.
The Kuala Terengganu Veterinary Services Department had investigated the poultry and sent a sample for analysis at the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh and results would be known within a day.
Dr Chua also said that a 31-year old man who worked at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre had been referred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital and subsequently warded there.
The man lived at the Subang Suria apartment, which is within a 300m to 400m radius of where the virus had been detected. He is reported to be in stable condition.
The avian flu virus was detected last Tuesday in Kg Paya Jaras Hilir in Sungai Buloh.
Dr Chua said that active surveillance was no longer being carried out as all homes within 300m of the location had been visited and interviews with residents had been completed.
"Monitoring and observation are being focussed on the 30 residents of Kg Paya Jaras Hilir who have been put under home surveillance, and all are healthy. This activity will last for a week from the last day of culling," he said.
He said that the nine cases in Sungai Buloh and Malacca had tested negative for the avian flu virus, adding that five cases at the Sungai Buloh hospital were allowed to go home while the remaining two had been transferred to a normal ward for suspicion of dengue fever.
The two cases in Malacca and two siblings in Kedah were discharged. theStarOnline
Selsema burung dikesan di pinggir Kuala Lumpur
0 Comments Published by TasekPauh Blogspot on Thursday, June 07, 2007 at 10:00 AM.
Info 'pandemic selsema' di WHO.
Bird flu reappears in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 - An isolated new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected among poultry in a village on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, officials said Wednesday.
Kamarudin Mohammed Isa, head of the disease control section at the Department of Veterinary Services, said the virus was confirmed late Tuesday night in chickens in the Sungei Buluh area of Selangor state.
"We will cull birds within a one kilometre (0.6 mile) radius from the index cases," he said, noting that authorities expected to start killing about 2,000 chickens in the village and surrounding area later Wednesday.
The veterinary department was alerted Sunday by the owner of the infected chickens after about 60 of his birds died, said Kamarudin.
Surveillance teams are being sent to surrounding areas to check for more virus outbreaks but none so far has been detected, he said.
"We hope it will remain that way," said Kamarudin.
The ministry of agriculture said in a statement that "this is an isolated case which does not involve a lot of dead chickens".
However Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned against complacency.
"They have to identify and quickly take whatever measures to prevent it from spreading," he told reporters.
In neighbouring Singapore, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it would immediately suspend poultry and egg imports from Selangor as a precaution, while imports from other parts of Malaysia will continue.
Malaysia suffered outbreaks of avian influenza among poultry in early 2006, but there were no human cases and the nation declared itself free of the disease last June.
In March this year officials said the country was on high alert for a possible outbreak of bird flu following fresh reports of the deadly virus around the region.
Malaysia said it imposed tight security at border checkpoints where poultry and by-products were known to be brought in illegally.
Neighbouring Indonesia, the country worst hit by bird flu, has recorded 99 human infections, 79 of them fatal.
Thailand has reported 25 human bird flu cases, including 17 fatalities.
H5N1 has killed 188 people and ravaged poultry flocks worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.
Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form easily spread among humans, leading to a global pandemic with the potential to kill millions. - AFP/ch/so
