Published: Wednesday April 29, 2009 MYT 7:30:00 PM
Swine Flu: Screening team stationed at Thai border
By CLARA CHOOI
IPOH: A health department team has been stationed along the Malaysia-Thailand border to screen travellers entering the country through Pengkalan Hulu.
The move, said State Health, Local Government, Consumer Affairs, Environment, Public Transportation and Non-Islamic Affairs committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, was to prevent the spread of swine flu into the country.
He said the health department workers would quarantine travellers who suffer from flu.
“We will make them undergo medical check-ups,” he told a press conference here Wednesday.
Dr Mah added that this was amongst the state’s efforts to prepare for any eventuality of the pandemic reaching Malaysian shores.
To date, a woman in Thailand had been placed in quarantine for suspected infection.
“We are very well prepared to face any eventuality. Our hospitals are well equipped with at least 23,000 doses of tamiflu, an antiviral medication, and we have all our departments and personnel on alert,” he assured.
Dr Mah however urged the public not to panic for there had been no reported cases of swine flu in Perak or anywhere else in the country.
“We have also not received any reports from pig farmers in the state,” he said.
He added that Perak had a total of 143 pig farms rearing about 430,000 pigs -- 58 farms in Kinta Valley, 20 in Kuala Kangsar and 32 in Batang Padang.
“Our health personnel have already been sent out to these farms to conduct checks on the animals,” he said.
Dr Mah noted that the pig breeding industry in Perak was a lucrative one that contributed some 6.5% to the state’s gross domestic product.
“The industry also generates annual revenue of about RM462mil, which is 32% of the total revenue generated from livestock breeding,” he said.
Despite this, Dr Mah said the state government would not ignore the spread of the swine flu across the globe.
“We would like to advise all pig farmers to use masks to avoid any possibility of contracting the infection,” he said.
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Najib: Rallies only lead to chaos
- Leave no stone unturned in latest death in lock-up case
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- King launches ‘Colours of 1Malaysia’ at Dataran Merdeka
- Housewife extorted over nude pics
- Election Commission promises utmost transparency in redelineation exercise
- Barisan leaders: 'All for one and one party for all’ a good idea
- Guan Eng confident of Pakatan unity despite pressure
- Too blessed to be stressed
- It can take longer to get a passport for time being
- Penang halts online passport applications
- Authorities move to prevent abuse of social media
- Mission schools ready to provide English-medium education
- Building English confidence among rural kids
- Travel Picks: Top 10 golf resorts around the world
- Chinese premier criticizes EU move on trade measures
- Justice Department opposes AMR's $20 million severance for CEO Horton
- News Corp to take charge of up to $1.4 billion this quarter
- Wall Street Week Ahead: Investors look for signs in the rally's break
- Unhappy with how your fave series is faring? Amazon gives you a say
- Visa, Mastercard ask U.S. court to declare card fees are lawful
- Wall Street posts first weekly loss since mid-April on Fed angst
- IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in court
- Politics of development pays dividend
- A thematic play seen
- Sarawak counters hogging the limelight
- Getting GST acceptance will be tough
- A yen for the unloved dollar standard
- Bitten by the music bug
- Sweet revenge as Froch defeats Kessler
- Pandelela-Mun Yee and Yan Yee-Jun Hoong bag bronze medals in Mexico
- World No. 1 Nicol sinks Waters to reach British Open final
- China confident of sweeping aside their final opponents
- Koreans in the final despite Dong-keun’s loss
- Macdonald and Marques share the lead
- McIlroy among big names who miss the cut as Molinari leads
- Kuchar leads in weather-hit second round
- Two tied at the top as rain stops play in the Bahamas
- Nico Rosberg revels in the rain as Mercedes stamp their mark
- Whitmarsh: McLaren’s hopes were too high this season
- Affendi brushes off hand injury to win CP130 race in Terengganu
- Hafizh needs to step up a gear after coming in fifth
- Vignesa right on track to retain GT Open title
- Dragons’ Melton confident of getting the better of Pringle in Game 2
- The Wall Street Journal: Anwar asked Jusuf to broker deal over GE13
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Election Commission promises utmost transparency in redelineation exercise
- Housewife extorted over nude pics
- Najib: Rallies only lead to chaos
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- Leave no stone unturned in latest death in lock-up case
- Too blessed to be stressed
- ‘Harry Potter Wong’ casts his spell
- Saiful marries TV3 newscaster decked in Zang Toi finery
- Too blessed to be stressed
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Indian warships visit Malaysian waters
- ‘Harry Potter Wong’ casts his spell
- Theme parks and long holiday help fill Johor hotel rooms
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- Exemplary educators
- DAP’s Ngeh in hot water over subservient tweet
- Rela man in coma after being rammed by biker
- The Wall Street Journal: Anwar asked Jusuf to broker deal over GE13
RSS
