ALOR STAR, Sept 4 — Activities to rid Kedah of Aedes mosquito breeding ground will be intensified in an effort to prevent the spread of Zika virus in the state.
Kedah Environment, Chinese, Indian and Siamese Community Affairs and Unity Committee chairman Datuk Dr Leong Yong Kong said anti-Aedes awareness campaign would also be intensified.
He said a meeting would be held with the relevant quarters to discuss measures to be taken to prevent the spread of Zika virus.
“I have talked to State Health director Datuk Dr Norhizan Ismail for a state-level meeting to be held soon to discuss the matter,” he told Bernama here today.
Dr Leong said no Zika case had been reported in the state yet so far, but preventive measures, as outlined by the Health Ministry, had been taken.
Yesterday, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed that a male patient from Sabah became the first locally transmitted case of Zika virus infection in the country.
The 61-year-old man died at 5.30pm yesterday due to complications from his underlying heart condition. He also had other comorbidities such as high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, kidney stones and gout.
Meanwhile in Kelantan, State Health deputy director Dr Norazmi Abdullah said although Zika case had been reported in the state, the people should keep their environment clean, and ensure their house compound do not serve as breeding ground for mosquitoes.
He said Zika virus, like dengue fever, is spread by Aedes mosquito.
“Although no case of Zika has been reported in Kelantan, we do not rule out the spread of Zika since Kelantan is among the states with the highest number of dengue cases,” he added.
He told this to reporters after opening the state-level World Without Tobacco Day here today.
In Ipoh, Perak Health director Datuk Dr Juita Ghazalie said the department was stepping up efforts to detect and destroy Aedes breeding ground.
“If possible, install mosquito net on windows, sleep under mosquito net, use mosquito repellant and clean containers used to store water one a week to avoid Aedes mosquito from breeding,” he said in a statement today.
Dr Juita also said so far, no one came to Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital for Zika screening.
The hospital is among 12 government hospitals providing the service. The others are Kuala Lumpur Hospital; Sungai Buloh Hospital in Selangor; Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Kedah; Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Negeri Sembilan; Melaka Hospital; Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru, Johor; Penang Hospital;
Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Pahang; Raja Perempuan Zainab 2 Hospital in Kota Bharu, Kelantan; Sarawak General Hospital and Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Terengganu. — Bernama
