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.