PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry is working closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to monitor the spread of the Novel Coronavirus or Middle East Respiratory Syndrom Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and is stepping up surveillance in the country as a precautionary measure.
Health deputy director-general (Public Health) Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman advised those going to the affected countries in the Middle East and Europe to take the necessary health precaution.
The ministry, he said, was also working with tour agencies and companies operating the haj pilgrimage this season to provide their clients with adequate information on the disease.
He said so far, WHO had not imposed restriction on visits to any countries and the vaccine for the illness had yet to be found.
Although there had been no report of MERS detected in the country, he said efforts were being made by the ministry to detect early any signs of the illness.
“It is because there is no vaccine yet for MERS that we advise those going to and returning from Saudi Arabia to take care of their cleanliness and personal hygiene as well as seek immediate treatment if they have health problems,” he told reporters at the presentation of the excellent service medals to staff of the ministry by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam yesterday.
The Health Ministry, in a statement issued last Friday, said the Middle East countries that reported the MERS-CoV cases are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Tunisia, while the European countries are Germany, France and United Kingdom.
WHO special adviser for health security and environment, Andrew Harper, in a media briefing in Geneva, yesterday urged health workers around the world to be on the alert for symptoms of the deadly MERS, which he said, had the potential to circle the globe and cause a pandemic.
On website postings claiming that the Arab Saudi government was tight-lipped on the matter, despite the approaching fasting month, Dr Lokman said the Saudi Arabian government had always shared information on the disease and was working with WHO to study the illness.
MERS-CoV was first detected in Saudi Arabia last year and until now, 31 of the 55 people confirmed with the illness worldwide, died. — Bernama