Other global health crises in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: In just 10 days after Malaysia recorded its first case of 2019-nCoV coronavirus infection on Jan 25, 12 people have tested positive up to yesterday.
The first three cases involved Chinese nationals who arrived in Johor from Singapore on Jan 23, while the most recent cases comprised two Malaysians evacuated from Wuhan, China, on Tuesday.
Three Malaysians have tested positive for the virus, with the remaining cases involved Chinese nationals.
Dubbed the Wuhan virus, in reference to the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province where the virus was first detected, the virus has gripped the world in fear, with a growing threat to a country’s economy and its people’s wellbeing.
On Jan 30, the World Health Organisation declared a global health emergency as the virus poses a threat to countries with weak healthcare systems.
This is not the first time that Malaysia had been shaken by a global health crisis.
The first human Japanese encephalitis (JE) case (a vectorborne zoonotic disease caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus) was reported in Malaysia during World War 2 in a British prison in 1942.
JE had four major outbreaks, namely in Langkawi in 1974, Penang (1988), Perak and Negri Sembilan (1998-1999) and Sarawak (1992).
According to WHO, Malaysia has between nine and 91 reported cases of JE each year.
Between December 1998 and February 1999, the chikungunya virus (mosquito-borne togavirus belonging to the genus Alphavirus) was reported in Klang. The outbreak is said to be linked to areas with poor sanitation and refuse disposal.
In November last year, 82 cases of chikungunya were reported within a month in Batang Padang, involving areas in Tapah and Bidor.
It was also in 1999 that the deadly nipah virus, transmitted by bats, was recorded in Malaysia. The outbreak (September 1998 to May 1999) resulted in 265 cases of acute encephalitis with 105 deaths.
From 1986 to 2016, Malaysia recorded 111,916 HIV (human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) transmission cases.