The Health Ministry has decided to expand Ebola screening procedures to arrivals from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines into Malaysia.
Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the screening and monitoring procedures had already started.
He said the measures were implemented after reports that five to 15 Filipinos who recently arrived from the West African nation of Sierra Leone were placed under observation.
“The ministry has activated preparatory measures at major entry points and health institutions,” he said in a statement yesterday, as reported by The Star Online.
Since this February, the latest Ebola outbreak, centred mostly in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, has infected more than 1,200 people, from which more than 800 deaths have resulted. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that from July 31 to August 1 alone, 163 new Ebola cases were reported, with 61 deaths recorded in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.
Health deputy director-general (public health) Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said his department was coordinating closely with the Immigration Department to monitor arrivals from the affected countries.
He said health officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport would carry out physical examination on suspected cases and those who fit the case definition stipulated by WHO would be quarantined and sent to the designated hospital.
Latest updates on the disease can be found on the ministry’s website or the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre Facebook page athttp://www.facebook.com/kkmcprc.
