PUTRAJAYA: Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (pix) had confirmed a recent outbreak of malaria among Orang Asli villagers in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
“We went in to carry out active case detection and found that 11 Orang Asli were infected with malaria,” he said at a press conference here today. “The director-general will issue a statement today.”
Also present at the press conference was Prof Datuk Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, dean of the Universiti Malaya faculty of medicine and an infectious disease specialist.
“The Plasmodium vivax strain of malaria with which the Orang Asli had been diagnosed is milder and less life-threatening than others.
“Often, patients will recover very quickly and may not be hospitalised,” she said, adding that three days of anti-malaria pills and other courses of medication would be sufficient for recovery.
She said the outbreak was not a cause for concern, adding that malaria had been mostly eradicated in Malaysia except for a few pockets of reported disease such as this.
More to follow
