Malaysia Adds Mers Screening at Border Crossings
- 22 Jun 2015 at 17:34 563 viewed0 comments
- WRITER: DPA
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia will step up health screenings after the first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome was reported in neighbouring Thailand last week, state media reported Monday.
The southeast Asian country that shares a 600-kilometre border with Thailand said it would begin monitoring at all entry points, the Bernama news agency said.
“We have been monitoring the body temperatures of arrivals at all international airports, now we are going further to include all entry points,” it quoted Deputy Health Minister Hilmi Yahaya as saying.
Mr Hilmi said visitors would also be briefed on precautions to avoid being infected by the disease, which has claimed 27 lives in South Korea in the past month.
Mr Hilmi said that while Malaysia remains Mers-free, it is not taking any chances, especially since the detection of the case in Thailand.
Mers was first detected in humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012, and most of the infected people were from the Middle East.
South Korea is facing an outbreak since a man was diagnosed after returning from the Middle East on May 20. Authorities have confirmed 172 cases, and 27 deaths.