SIBU: The Health Department has called on the public not to use social media to spread rumours regarding the Ebola virus disease.
State health director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan warned such actions could potentially spark mass panic.
“Therefore, our call to the members of the public is not to use Facebook to post speculation or rumours about the disease,” he told The Borneo Post on Wednesday.
Dr Zulkifli said all passengers of international flights were screened, particularly those from Ebola hit countries, and advised to watch out for signs and symptoms as well as to seek medical help.
Meanwhile, Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said he hoped a 26-year-old man now being isolated at Sibu Hospital as a precautionary measure against Ebola would soon recover.
He said the worker from Kapit, who had just returned from Africa, seemed to be on the mend and his fever had gone down.
“However, it is medical procedure to keep him in isolation until his condition improves. He can be discharged if he recovers and when it is confirmed he does not have the Ebola viral infection. It is possible this is not a case of Ebola infection,” he said.
Wong also urged the public to stay calm and let medical personnel do their work.
In Kuching, a 24-year-old Zimbabwean student tested negative for Ebola. Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this was confirmed by laboratory tests at the National Public Health Laboratory in Sungai Buloh.
He reiterated that there were no confirmed cases of Ebola in Malaysia. A travel advisory said Ebola outbreaks have occurred primarily in remote villages in central and west Africa, near tropical rainforests.
Infection is by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person or animal or through contact with contaminated objects. Symptoms include fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes and, in some cases, bleeding.