KL puts gag on health officers

KL puts gag on health officers

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia has gagged all its state health departments from making statements about the fatal Japanese encephalitis virus which has claimed 14 lives in four months, a report said on Thursday.

The Sun newspaper cited officials as saying the order by Health Minister Chua Jui Meng was issued earlier this month.

The newspaper said Chua was upset with local media reports since the first outbreak in pig farms near Ipoh in October and additional cases in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan last month.

Chua reportedly told local editors not to overplay the issue as their reports could adversely affect the economy if picked up by foreign media.

The Malaysian media faced similar problems in obtaining information in 1997 when an outbreak of the Coxsackie B virus killed 30 children in the eastern state of Sarawak state on Borneo island.