Tell a friend about this website Contact us (Suggestions, complaints, corrections, etc.) Bookmark this page because you'll need it later (OR you can also press CTRL-D)

Note: This article archives are meant to be reference material for MalaysiaCentral.com's internal staffs only.

PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has ordered RM4 million worth of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, enough to treat 60,000 patients, in case there is an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu.
Its Disease Control Department director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said that more orders would be placed whenever allocations are approved.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek had recently announced that the government would be stockpiling the drug up to a level which would enable the treatment of at least 10% of the population.

Ramlee said yesterday that medical staff and other health workers would be given priority in treatment "because they have a higher chance of contracting the disease".

He said it would take some time for the drug, manufactured by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, to be delivered due to high demand.

In the latest case, a Vietnamese man has died of bird flu as health experts meet in Geneva to map out a strategy to prevent a global pandemic. In Vietnam, 42 people have died from H5N1. The latest case is a 35-year-old man who died late last month after eating a chicken with his family.

There is no vaccine now to protect humans against the virus which is presently known to be transmitted from birds to humans.

"However, there is global fear that the virus may mutate, enabling it to be transmitted from human to human," Ramlee told a media briefing.

He said the ministry is well prepared to face a possible outbreak of the H5N1 virus with standby isolation wards, active case detection teams, clinics and protective equipment like masks and gloves.

"We displayed our readiness in Kelantan when there was an outbreak of the flu last year," he added.

Asked if the mysterious death of 100 pigeons in Bidor, Perak, last Saturday was caused by bird flu, he said the veterinary department had confirmed the birds tested negative for the H5N1 virus.
As for the incident in Taman Mutiara, Sungai Petani, last Thursday, when more than 10 pigeons dropped dead, Kedah veterinary services department director Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam said no other cases of pigeon deaths were reported.

He, however, said the more than 200 poultry farms in the state are being monitored as a precaution.

"We are not sure how many pigeons actually died because we have only one carcass and the rest were disposed. The pigeons in the vicinity and in neighbouring areas look healthy," said Quaza in a telephone interview.

Penang veterinary services department director Dr Mohd Zairi Serlan said the 357 chicken farms, 50 duck farms and seven other avian farms in the state are being monitored although there has been no reports of unsual bird deaths.

The director of the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh, Dr Sharifah Syed Hassan, said it received faecal swabs from the dead birds' droppings yesterday afternoon. Test results are expected today.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad said Malaysia is well-prepared to prevent the spread of avian flu.

He said his ministry is working closely with all tourism players and would issue health advisories, like in the recent dengue outbreak.

Instead of experiencing a drop in tourist arrivals, Malaysia is seeing double-digit percentage increases from the long-haul markets, Toyad said.

Tell a friend about this website Contact us (Suggestions, complaints, corrections, etc.) Bookmark this page because you'll need it later (OR you can also press CTRL-D)