Man contracts JE disease in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU, July 18 (Bernama) -- A 21-year-old man in a village in Tambunan has contracted Japanese Encephalitis (JE) disease, Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Frankie Poon Fung Ming announced today.

He said the man, from Kampung Lubong, was under treatment in Keningau Hospital and his condition is stable.

The blood sample from the man sent to the National Public Health Laboratory in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, tested positive for the JE virus, he told a press conference at Wisma Tun Fuad here.

The JE virus has been detected in a pig farm in Tambunan, he said.

Meanwhile, Sabah Health Department director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi said JE is endemic in Sabah and the state has recorded four cases so far this year. It registered five cases last year.

She said the JE virus can pass from infected animals to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito but cannot pass from humans to humans.

“The mosquito carries this virus from the animals to humans. An infected human cannot transfer it to another human,” she said.

-- BERNAMA