KUALA LUMPUR: New Zika cases will continue to emerge in Malaysia.
This was the warning issued by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam today, following reports that a Sabah man had contracted the virus locally.
Dr Subramaniam said the confirmation of the second case of Zika in Kota Kinabalu indicates that the virus is already present within Malaysian communities.
“This patient has not been to any other country where alarge number of cases had been reported. This means that this person contracted the disease locally," he said via his Facebook post today.
Dr Subramaniam said the ministry is still uncertain as to where the virus might have originated from.
He, however, said it was possible there were other infected people in the community who are potential sources of infection.
“We are in the process of tracing the movement of this last patient over the past few weeks. We will intensify vector control activities in these areas,” he said.
The 61-year-old patient from Taman Public Jaya in Likas, who tested positive for Zika locally, died on Saturday afternoon from heart-related complications.
Dr Subramanian said the ministry was of the opinion that the patient’s death was not directly related to Zika.
He said this was because the patient had other medical conditions including heart problems and chronic renal disease which were life-threatening.
“Any form of viraemia in such a situation could have tilted the balance and caused his demise,” he added.
Dr Subramaniam also said it was the responsibility of Malaysians to intensify the anti-aedes war as Zika was already present in the nation.