Dr Chan: Don’t panic over H5N1

by Lim How Pim. Posted on January 7, 2011, Friday

KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan said there should be no panic as far as avian flu (H5N1) is concerned.

He stressed the life-threatening disease did not spread easily from human to human and there were fewer cases of it being spread from animals to humans.

“The H5N1 is happening in South Korea and it is different from Influenza A (H1N1).

“Avian flu spreads only among birds and chickens, very seldom to human beings. If it is spread to humans, it means 60 per cent chances of fatality,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Dr Chan, who is also State Disaster Relief Committee chairman, said avian flu (H5N1) is generally communicable among animals.

“Do not cause any panic although we have to be careful since there was already a case in South Korea.”

The news of the avian flu infection in Korea came just as Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is to commence flights from Incheon Airport in South Korea into Kuching via Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from Jan 15.

On Influenza A (H1N1), Dr Chan said the number of cases had dropped in the last two months.

“Compared to the pandemic outbreak in 2009, cases of H1N1 in Sarawak have been drastically decreased,” he said.

Screening on arrivals of international flights at the airport here are still carried out, he said, despite the drop in H1N1 cases.

“We have not stopped the screening since the outbreak in 2009. We still check the temperature of international arrivals,” added Dr Chan.