KL unveils more measures to curb encephalitis virus<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia, saying it was facing an
\nemergency, on Thursday announced new measures to curb a fatal
\nencephalitis outbreak that has killed up to 61 people over six
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said buffer zones
\nwould be created around infected pig farms and all pigs in the
\nzones would be slaughtered.<\/p>\n
\"We are facing an emergency situation in our country,\"
\nAbdullah was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency
\nafter chairing a cabinet task force charged with curbing the
\nepidemic.<\/p>\n
\"We have decided to use the preventative approach because of
\nthe pig farms in other areas which are highly likely to be
\ninfected with the virus, which is transmitted by the Culex
\nmosquito,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The cabinet on Wednesday named Abdullah to replace Health
\nMinister Chua Jui Meng as head of the task force which was set up
\non March 17, amid fears the Japanese encephalitis virus could
\naffect other livestock.<\/p>\n
Foreign reporters were barred from the press conference at
\nwhich Abdullah spoke.<\/p>\n
Health officials said three more people, all from Negeri
\nSembilan state, had died, raising the death toll to 61 since the
\noutbreak began in October.<\/p>\n
Nine others were suspected to have contracted the mosquito-
\nborne virus, bringing to 166 the number of infections so far,
\nthey said.<\/p>\n
The epidemic first broke out in pig farms in the northern
\nstate of Perak in October and was reported to have killed 15
\npeople before spreading to Negeri Sembilan state in the southwest
\ntwo months later.<\/p>\n
Compounding the problem, a new encephalitis strain called
\n\"Hendra\" -- first discovered in 1994 affecting horses and human
\nin Brisbane, Australia -- was found in some patients.<\/p>\n
The epidemic has prompted a health scare and crippled
\nMalaysia's 1.5 billion ringgit ($395 million) pig rearing
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik, the task force deputy
\nchairman, was quoted as saying that all pigs including healthy
\nones within the buffer zones would be killed.<\/p>\n
\"What we have decided today is that we will not just pay
\nattention to infected areas. What is important is to create a
\nbuffer zone around the infected areas and destroy all within that
\ncircle,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Ling said soldiers would continue mass pig culling operations
\nin four villages in Negeri Sembilan and might try a new killing
\nprocess using carbon monoxide to speed up the exercise.<\/p>\n
The operation, which began Saturday, aims to kill some 320,000
\ninfected pigs in 10 days.<\/p>\n
A Malaysian soldier got his toe fractured when a 200 kilogram
\npig went wild and stepped on his foot during a mass culling
\noperation, a report said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred when the soldier and his colleagues were
\nherding the pigs to a pen to shoot them, The Sun newspaper said.<\/p>\n
More than 20 pigs in the pen panicked and one stomped on the
\nsoldier's foot.<\/p>\n
Bernama said Second Finance Minister Mustapa Mohamed would
\nhead a new committee to decide on financial aid for pig farmers
\nand handle culling and vaccination expenses.<\/p>\n
Five members of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control
\nand Prevention have arrived along with two Australian experts, it
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Mohamad Izat Emir, chairman of the National Consumer
\nProtection Council, said the outbreak should prick the conscience
\nof authorities and pig farmers who had \"closed one eye\" to
\nunhygienic rearing methods.<\/p>\n
He called for a national program to relocate pig breeders in
\ncentralized modern farms.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kl-unveils-more-measures-to-curb-encephalitis-virus-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}