KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- The central and interior regions of Bakun in Sarawak have been declared as areas under quarantine beginning Sunday following a measles outbreak that killed 13 children and an adult recently, the Health Ministry's Communicable Disease Control Director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said Sunday.
He said the quarantine order was issued by the Sarawak Health Department.
"This is in order to prevent spread of the disease and to assess the situation," he told Bernama here.
He said the Sarawak Health Department and the state government would strictly enforce the quarantine order in the areas, and advised the public not to visit the areas until the outbreak had been contained.
"We need to assess the situation in order to determine the spread of the disease and to contain the outbreak by controlling the movement of people in and out of the area," he said.
Dr Ramlee assured the public that the situation was under control and that the Sarawak Health Department had been monitoring the situation closely since the start of the outbreak.
"They (Sarawak Health Department) and the state government have managed it well, taking all precautions and preventive measures," he said.
Asked if the state health department had asked for any assistance from the Health Ministry, Dr Ramlee said "they have not asked" but expressed his confidence that they could handle the situation well.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam has been reported as saying that a total of 66 measles cases had been recorded, including the 14 deaths.
He said those who died were from a longhouse in Sungai Urun in Belaga, located near the Bakun project site or about 150 km inland from Bintulu.
Some of the residents from the Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme had also been affected and have been placed under strict observation and treatment at Bintulu Hospital.
Dr Chan had said that based on the State Health and Medical Services Department, the Penan community in Sungai Urun had never been exposed to measles.
-- BERNAMA
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