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PUTRAJAYA, Feb 24: Eight of the 10 admitted to Kuala Lumpur
Hospital until yesterday for symptoms of bird flu have been
discharged.
A 42-year-old man and a six-year-old girl are the only ones
still under observation.
The 10 were among 2,065 people in 505 houses screened for bird
flu symptoms until yesterday.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said today that the
outcome of laboratory results on the two were expected to be in
by tomorrow at the latest.
"We hope that the tests would prove negative," he said, adding
that the last to be discharged were an 18-month-old male toddler
and a six-year-old boy, who left the hospital today.
Officials from the ministry, the Federal Territory Public Health
Department and Kuala Lumpur City Hall have completed their first
round of screening around a 300m radius of Kampung Pasir
Wardieburn, where chickens were found to have died of bird flu
since Monday.
Dr Chua said the teams started their second round of
checks within the radius today. |
"The teams are carrying out another round of
checks at all houses within the radius to ensure that no one
was left out of the earlier screening," he said.
He said health officers, veterinarians and others involved in
the operation had taken adequate precautionary measures to avoid
infection.
Dr Chua said the ministry was using the outbreak to monitor
public response to a health problem.
Some 150 officers, including those from the State and district
health departments, will be involved in the exercise soon.
The "table-top" exercise is aimed at determining the best way to
handle the situation from operation centres on matters including
directives, disseminating information and co-operation from
other agencies.
It’s learnt that the ministry is planning to do a bird flu
simulation exercise involving the entire nation next month.
Asked what the ministry planned to do after the second round of
house-to-house
checks and screening, Dr Chua said: "They will carry out
passive
checks within the 300m radius."
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He said those staying outside the radius should seek medical
attention if they come down with flu-like symptoms.
Dr Chua was happy with the overall performance of his officers
during the outbreak.
"They acted fast and put into action what had been planned for
an outbreak. The public’s response was also good. They were more
aware of their health rather than the culling of birds," he
added.
He said so far he had not received any complaints from his men
on the ground of anyone not co-operating with the health
authorities.
As to whether the ministry had enough stock of
Tamiflu and relenza vaccines, he said they were in the midst
of compiling stock to cater for at least five per cent of the
population. |
