KOTA KINABALU Sabah will take immediate steps to stop the spread of polio following the detection of a case, the first in 27 years, in Tuaran about 40km from the state capital here.
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Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said that he was concerned over the matter following the Health Ministry’s announcement on Sunday (Dec 8).
He said that he has directed the state Health and People’s Well-being Ministry to work with the relevant health authorities to curb the spread of the disease.
“We cannot take this lightly, we have to manage the situation carefully to ensure it does not spread to other districts, ” he told reporters after attending a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission dialogue on Integrity and Anti Corruption with Sabah government here Monday (Dec 9).
The Chief Minister said that he is expected to get a full report over the discovery of the polio case in Tuaran soon.
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“I hope all parents of newborns will take the effort to ensure that their children are vaccinated, ” he said.
On Sunday, Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that a three-month-old boy was confirmed to have contracted the Type 1 polio virus on Dec 6, this year.
The child was suffering from fever and overall weakness.
Sabah has a large population of migrant workers and families from neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines, many of whom have not been immunised in their home countries. -The Star