Malaysia on high alert for swine flu

I / Kuala Lumpur May 1, 2009, 13:53 IST

Malaysian Government has put its health department on high alert after the WHO raised the swine flu pandemic alert to level five, even as no case related to the strain has been reported in the country so far.  Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the the National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan was working well and so far no flu case has been reported.  

The plan seeks to raise awareness on swine flu through distribution of multilingual leaflets, posters and VCDs on proper ways to wash hands and wear masks as well as the dos and don'ts about hygiene, Liow said.  

The ministry has two million doses of Tamiflu and Relenza anti-viral medication and is trying to top up the stockpile with an additional 10 per cent, he added.  He said that his ministry would ask for at least 10 million additional ringgit to provide vaccinations for 200,000 frontliners including doctors, nurses, police and immigration personnel.  

Meanwhile, a team of health department personnel has been stationed along the Malaysia-Thai border to screen travellers entering the country to to prevent the spread of swine influenza into the country.  In Thailand, a woman has been placed in quarantine for suspected infection.  All the international airports in the country have also begun screening passengers, especially those on flights from the affected countries.A public health expert has warned that the swine flu could be as big a killer as the 1918 Spanish flu which left 40 million people dead, if it was not properly contained.  

University Sains Malaysia Public Health professor Dr Chan Chee Khoon said some people think it would not be serious but if the virus replicates the characteristics of the Spanish flu, many could be infected or die.  

Dr Chan said the swine flu epidemic was harder to control than the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) but not as deadly. "The flu virus becomes infectious even before symptoms are seen and this makes it difficult for health authorities to contain the disease," he told The Star daily.  Meanwhile, a government official said 150 people were infected with the chikungunya epidemic in coastal areas of Sri Aman and Betong. He said there were no deaths due to the disease and the epidemic had been contained.  State Health director Dr Mohd Kamil Hassan said Sarawak migrant workers who had worked in chikungunya infected states in the peninsula could have carried the virus back, adding there were thousands of Sarawakians working in Johor.         

On swine flu, Dr Chan said the state had banned the import of live pigs and fresh pork products to curb the possible spread of the flu.