H1N1 SUSPECTED CASE IN SARAWAK, RESULT TO BE KNOWN TUESDAY

KUCHING (Malaysia), May 5 (Bernama) -- A 31-year-old man, who has been
travelling to the United States for the last two weeks, was admitted to the
Sarawak General Hospital's isolation ward Monday night after having symptoms
similar to influenza A(H1N1).

Health Deputy Director-General Dr Ramlee Rahmat said Tuesday the man, a
local, returned to East Malaysia state of Sarawak on May 1 and had fever, cough
and flu, symptoms that fit those for influenza A(H1N1), Monday.

A swab sample taken from the man's throat was sent to the Institute for
Medical Research (IMR) in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday morning and the result was
expected to be known either Tuesday evening or latest by Tuesday night, he said.


The test result would be announced by the Health Minister or Health
Director-General.

"We want to know exactly the type of the virus inside the body of that man,
it is a necessary precaution," Dr Ramlee told reporters after opening the
two-day Healthy Cities Meeting for senior officials from Malaysia and other
Asean countries here.

"At the moment, there is only one suspected case in Sarawak and we have
activated our public health response to identify those who have been in contact
with him to monitor their health," he said.

"Overall so far, including in Sarawak, there were a total of three suspected
cases of influenza A H1N1), with Penang and Selangor having one case each but
both were negative," he said.

Earlier, when opening the meeting, he said Malaysia was still free from the
deadly influenza outbreak as the goverment had taken pro-active measures to
prevent it from spreading to the country in line with World Health Organisation
(WHO) guidelines.

"We have the facilities to detect it, no need to worry about it, you will be
taken care of" he told the participants of the meeting.

Despite the small presence of medical officials from Asean countries at the
meeting due to influenza scare, he hoped that the meeting would meet its
objective.
-- BERNAMA