Health Department on high alert for Knowlesii Malaria which is transmitted by monkeys
Dominic pointing to Bukit Kuap, located at Mile 13 Kuching-Serian Road, where various monkey species are still found.
KUCHING: The Health Department is now on high alert for a new type of Malaria known as Knowlesii Malaria, which has been detected at Mile 13 Kuching-Serian Road area.
According to Assistant Minister of Public Health Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, Knowlesii Malaria is transmitted from monkeys to humans and could be fatal as the virus is more destructive to humans’ red blood cells compared to other malaria viruses.
He believes the disease could have been transmitted by some hunters from nearby villages such as Kampung Seratau, Kampung Sedenu and Kampung Kutan, who could have been infected by the disease by infected monkeys while hunting at Bukit Kuap in the Mile 13 area.
“At the moment, it is endemic only at the Mile 13 area. And even though the disease has spread quite rapidly, it is still under control,” Dr Jerip told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
To control the spread of the disease, he said the Health Department was taking all the necessary precautions such as advising residents in the affected villages to stop hunting at the suspected area.
“We also carry our fogging and advised affected people to use mosquito nets,” added Dr Jerip.
When contacted, state director of Health Department Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan confirmed that the disease was rampant only at the Mile 13 area.
He disclosed that the cumulative number of reported cases last year was 1,098, including 97 reported in the first 10 weeks of this year.
Residents of the area confirmed that various species of monkeys are found in Bukit Kuap.
A resident of RPR Flat at Mile 13, Dominic Semalih Uding, 23, said there were instances when the monkeys came to their backyards but they were scared away by children by throwing firecrackers at them.
“Now, we don’t see them coming near here anymore. But we still can hear their noises up in the hill,” he said.
On a related issue, Dr Jerip warned that the unaccounted number of illegal foreign workers residing near the border areas was causing alarm due to the increasing cases of tuberculosis among them.
“We are monitoring the situation and in some cases we even treated them at our hospitals and we will trace the source. In this way, hopefully we can address the issue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Jerip said Sibu continued to be the main area of concern for the Health Department because of the increasing number of dengue fever cases there.
“There are various reasons why Sibu continues to be the hotspot for dengue fever. One of the reasons is because Sibu Town is a low lying area and many areas have drainage problems, thus breeding mosquitoes especially Aedes.
“And secondly, there are at least 200 abandoned houses which breed all sorts of pests including mosquitoes, thus posing great danger to the community. So we have set up an inter-government agency to tackle the menace,” added Dr Jerip.