Monkey malaria but not human malaria
Published on: Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Keningau: Incidence of human malaria in the State is almost zero this year, State Health Department Director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi said. Sabah recorded only one case and was an indication that the awareness programme by the department to zero malaria local infection has been effective."However, the current concern is the increase in Monkey Malaria in the state," she told a press conference after officiating the closing of the State level Organ Donation Awareness Week Carnival held at the main lobby of Keningau hospital, here.
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"Malaria was a type of disease caused by a bacterium Plasmodium carried by the anopheles mosquitoes and could be detected through blood records taken from people suffering the disease," said Dr Christina.She said, previously, malaria were very high in the State, making it the highest number of cases in the country.She said her department had conducted malaria elimination to zero local infections for human malaria."But what we see is the increase in monkey malaria where these malaria germs can be in the human body and can be in the body of a monkey.
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"That's why infection through monkey malaria is difficult to control. We can provide treatments and medicines for humans but we cannot do the same for monkeys."As long as the germs are present in the monkeys transmission can occur to humans because mosquitoes carried by monkey malaria are similar to human malaria," she said.
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She said what was seen today is that the people who get these malaria infections are those who go out to hunt animals in the jungle, to farms, to tap rubber and so on.Dr Christina said that due to the abundance of mosquito breeding and germs already in the community, the transmission had already taken place in the village, houses and not in the forests alone.She said if previously in the forest area, farms and so forth now it is clear that this infection is in the village area because the germs have been brought to these areas by those who get infectious bacterial malaria germs while hunting, working in the farm or tapping rubber."That's why we see the number of cases of monkey malaria increasing compared to the human malaria which is almost zero," she said.At the same time, Dr Christina said that the increase in dengue disease in the State is also alarming.She said dengue was a virus that was too small cannot be seen through the microscope and therefore the department used a blood test to detect this disease.According to her, dengue and malaria are very different from the carriers' mosquitoes and the dengue disease is carried by Aedes mosquitoes."For Sabah the number of dengue cases is still increasing as Aedes mosquitoes are more likely to breed in any environments having with water or water stagnants."Indeed, in the State, dengue virus is already there so we will see an increase in dengue cases every year and how to deal with this dengue problem is to clear these breeding spots."Anti-dengue or dengue-free campaigns always emphasise to the community as it is possible that we can clean up these breeding places if the Aedes mosquitoes are easy to breed everywhere inside and outside the house," she said.Dr Christina advises people in the State, both in urban and rural areas, to prioritise the cleanliness of the outdoor and indoor environment to prevent the breeding of aedes mosquitoes that carry dengue virus.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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