theSun | WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5 2009 5

news without borders

29 schools and two NS camps closed Review ‘interfering’

GEORGE TOWN: Twenty-nine institu-
tions of learning and two national serv-
ice training camps have been closed in
Penang.
Environment, Health, Welfare and Car-
ing Society Committee chairman Phee
Boon Poh said three schools in Seberang
Perai Utara, one in Seberang Perai Sela-
tan, a technical college in Balik Pulau and
an NS camp in Balik Pulau were ordered
closed yesterday after cluster cases of
influenza-like illnesses were found.
“The situation is getting serious in
Seberang Perai, so even after some of
the institutions have re-opened, more are
being closed daily,” he said in a telephone
interview with theSun after chairing
a meeting on A(H1N1) flu mitigation
measures with Seberang Perai Muncipal
Council officials.
Liu’s portfolio:
Phee however declined to confirm the
number of confirmed cases in Penang,
saying all such figures would be officially
Selangor PAS
released by the Health Ministry. by Karen Arukesamy “The directive was given by
newsdesk@thesundaily.com the licensing director, which
he did out of pressure from
SHAH ALAM: The Selan- residents in the area because

Tamiflu-resistant
gor PAS yesterday accused state that outlet is near the surau,
H1N1 figures executive councillor Ronnie although the officer was aware
(as at 8am yesterday) Liu of “interfering” in the local of the status quo.”
council’s enforcement opera- Mazalan however stressed
» New cases: 14 tions and called for a review of
his portfolio which covers local
that such seizure “was not
allowed”, in keeping with a
» Imported cases: 0 government. state government decision to

flu found in the US
Its state commissioner maintain the status quo pend-

» Local transmissions: 14
» Total no. of cases:1,460
Datuk Dr Hasan Mohamed Ali,
who is also a Selangor execu-
tive councillor, said the role of
executive councillors is limited
to policy and “not to directly
ing the issuance of guidelines
on the matter.
The seizure had been execut-
ed by enforcement officers who
claimed they were unaware

WASHINGTON: Health
officials said on Mon-
day they had found
cases of Tamiflu-resistant
A (H1N1) flu along the
US border with Mexico,
as India and South Africa
announced their first deaths
from the virus.
“We have found resistance to
Tamiflu on the border. We have
observed some cases, few to
be sure, in El Paso and close to
McAllen, Texas,” Maria Teresa
Cerqueira, head of the Pan-Amer-
ican Health Organisation office in
La Jolla, California said.
Cases of A (H1N1) that were
resistant to the anti-viral medi-
cine have now been found in the
United States, Canada, Denmark,
Hongkong and Japan.
Experts had gathered in La
Jolla on Monday to discuss the
response to the outbreak, and
warned that resistant strains were
likely emerging because of over-
use of antivirals like Tamiflu.
“In the US, Tamiflu is sold with
a prescription, but in Mexico and
Canada it is sold freely and taken
INFLUENZA A(H1N1) HOTLINE
» 03-88810200/300
» 03-88834414/415
Cerqueira said.
The Tamiflu-resistant cases
were reported as South Africa
and India both announced their
first fatalities from the A (H1N1)
virus, which emerged in Mexico
in April and has since spread
worldwide, gaining pandemic
status.
In South Africa, health auth-
orities said Ruan Muller, a 22-
year-old student at Stellenbosch
University near Cape Town, had
died after contracting the virus.
“He died on the 28th (of July),
but there had to be some testing
done to ensure the cause of death.
It was the A (H1N1) influenza,”
Fidel Hadebe, spokesman for
South Africa’s Department of
Health, said.
With the world’s highest
number of HIV/AIDS-affected peo-
ple – nearly 19% of a 49-million-
because » Total no. of deaths:
people
with com-
promised
immunity
are more likely to fall prey to the
disease.
In India, authorities said a 14-
year-old girl in the western city of
Pune became the country’s first
fatality from the virus.
The teenager first felt unwell
on July 21, complaining of a sore
throat, runny nose and head-
aches. She returned to school the
following day after the general
symptoms improved, the Minis-
try of Health and Family Welfare
said.
She again developed a fever
on July 25 and two days later was
admitted to a private clinic for
treatment. She was put on a ven-
tilator in an intensive care unit
and was treated with Oseltamivir,
a generic brand of Tamiflu.
“Her condition deteriorated
again with multi-system involve-
ment and (she) expired on the
evening of Aug 3,” the ministry
said in a state-
8
reprimand officers”. of the decision. Mazalan later
“PAS has received reports of ordered the beer returned.
several cases relating to such He admitted that MBSA had
interference, which has affected sent out four letters since May
the morale of local council to convenience stores in sec-
officials and civil officers in tions 1 to 24 to “cooperate and
general,” he said. not sell beers” since these are
Commuters
Hasan cited three instances Muslim-majority areas.
walk past
– the demolition of a temple in “We sent letters only to con-
an A (H1N1)
Ampang Jaya, a raid relating to venience stores. Hypermarkets,
warning at a
the sale of beer to Muslims in private clubs, medical stores
tube station
Bandar Sunway, and the seizure and other such places were not
in London on
of beer by the Shah Alam City affected.”
Monday. The
Council (MBSA) from a 7-Eleven To a question, Mazalan
flu pandemic
outlet in Section 8, Shah Alam. said: “No. We cannot confiscate
‘may have
“Previously, the portfolio beer (from convenience stores)
plateaued’
was held by the mentri besar, unless they are caught selling it
in Britain,
and perhaps it will be better if to Muslims and minors.”
officials said
the current MB (Tan Sri Abdul Liu, who was also present,
on Thursday,
Khalid Ibrahim) holds the port- did not comment on PAS’s call to
estimating
folio,” he said. review his portfolio, but said the
some 110,000
However, in an immediate Ampang Jaya incident was “not
new cases last
response, Shah Alam mayor an interference” but an “imple-
week, just 10%
Mazalan Mohd Noor told report- mentation of the state’s policy”.
higher than the
ers after a local council meeting “There should be no demolition
previous week.
with Liu: “The exco member of places of worship without a
Britain is the
(Liu) acted in accordance with state directive,” he said.
hardest hit in
the law and has the right to cor- On the Bandar Sunway inci-
Europe, with 27
rect any of our mistakes.” dent, Liu said: “There is no such
deaths.
He said he had been unaware thing. I received no complaint on
of the seizure at the 7-Eleven the matter and did not interfere
outlet and never approved it. in the incident in any way.”

Caution ...
at the first sneeze. Then, when it person population – South Africa ment. – AFP
is really needed, it doesn’t work,” is considered particularly at risk

Providing Money over health

by Meena L. Ramadas
a better newsdesk@thesundaily.com
understanding PETALING JAYA: A recent
Reader’s Digest poll showed
of pigs that Malaysians would
rather be given US$10,000
(RM35,400) than lose 5kg.
KUALA LUMPUR: A seminar in Shah The online poll featured
Alam on Saturday is aimed at providing in the magazine’s issue
an understanding of pigs in the context of this month showed that
Muslim and non-Muslim societies. people in 15 out of the 16
Organised by the Muslim Scholars countries surveyed would
Association of Selangor with the coopera- choose “greenbacks” over
tion of the Sirim Muslim Staff’s Association, eating greens.
Universiti Putra Malaysia Muslim Under- Russia, with a high
graduates Association and the university’s poverty rate, had the
faculty of veterinary medicine, the seminar widest margin at 91%.
at the Sirim auditorium will see 10 working India had the nar-
papers presented. rowest at 53%, which
Muslim Scholars Selangor chairman is expected as India’s
Zamri Shapik said it is limited to 500 peo- middle class expands
ple. in numbers – on the
The fee for organisations, departments wage scale and weight
and agencies is RM150, individuals RM50 scale. The country’s
and tertiary students RM10. Call 03-7955 increasing prosperity
4300 to register. – Bernama has led to a rise in the
EPAPIX
incidence of diabetes and obes-
ity.
“You can always make
money, but after a certain age,
it’s more important to lose
weight to compete with the
younger crowd,” says Pushpa
Kumar from Chennai, India.
However, younger respond-
ents in 13 out of 15 countries
chose cash, while older partici-
pants chose to lose 5kg.
Reader’s Digest English Asia
Edition health editor Debbie
Lau said: “The recession may
have impacted the results
which were skewed towards
money, but remember, wealth
is no replacement for health.”
The poll surveyed 150
respondents each from Aus-
tralia, Brazil, Canada, China,
France, Germany, India, Italy,
Malaysia, the Netherlands, the
Philippines, Russia, Singapore,
Spain, the United Kingdom and
the United States.

China plague toll rises to three

BEIJING: The death toll from an
outbreak of pneumonic plague in
northwest China has risen to three,
state media reported yesterday as
authorities maintained a quarantine
lockdown on a town of 10,000.
The latest victim was a 64-year-old
man who died on Monday in Ziketan,
a remote town in a Tibetan area of
Qinghai province where two fatalities
had previously been reported, the
Global Times said.
At least nine other people were
infected with the highly virulent dis-
ease, mostly relatives of the first fatal-
ity, a 32-year-old herdsman, reports
said, quoting local health authorities.
Qinghai provincial health authori-
ties refused to comment when con-
tacted yesterday.
Ziketan, which is about 200km
southwest of the provincial capital
Xining, had enough supplies to get
by on its own for the time being, the
official Xinhua news agency said.
Health authorities were urging
people who had visited Ziketan on or
after July 16 to seek immediate help if
they developed coughing or fever.
Medical staff were disinfecting
the region and tracking down people
who had been in close contact with
the patients but there had been no
reports of new infections, Xinhua said.
The vast high-altitude area is sparsely
inhabited, mainly by Tibetan herders.
Pneumonic plague spreads through
the air, making it easier to contract than
bubonic plague, for which a person
would have to be bitten by an infected
flea. The World Health Organisation says
pneumonic plague is the most virulent
but least common form of plague. The
mortality rate is high and patients can
die 24 hours after infection. – AFP