170 Orang Asli still at measles evacuation centre

GUA MUSANG, July 13 (Bernama) -- A total of 170 measles-infected Orang Asli community members from the Batek tribe are still housed at the temporary evacuation centre in Taman Etnobotani.

Gua Musang social welfare department officer Hizani Ibrahim said the evacuees who had been sent there in recent weeks after receiving treatment at Hospital Gua Musang and Hospital Kuala Krai, will continue to be quarantined until they receive the go-ahead to return to their homes in Kampung Kuala Koh, where a small number of uninfected tribes people have remained.

Hizani told this to reporters when contacted here today, adding that the health of the evacuees was being continuously monitored, and apart from that, children were also being taught about personal hygiene and how to keep their surroundings clean.

The temporary evacuation centre is housed at the site of a national service training camp which was opened to the Orang Asli community by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), on the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. 

Since the measles outbreak was reported in June, the majority of cases were reported in Kelantan, followed by a smaller number in Terengganu and Pahang, while four deaths were confirmed by health authorities to have been caused by measles infection and complications, with the most recent occurring on July 7.

The post-mortems conducted in relation to 12 other deaths which occurred at around the time of the outbreak, were reported to be inconclusive according to the authorities.

-- BERNAMA