Police civilian staff member succumbs to Avian Flu

A civilian staff member at the Kedah police contingent headquarters was confirmed to have succumbed to Influenza A, better known as Avian Flu, yesterday.

The 48-year-old woman died at the Malacca Hospital at 11.10am yesterday.

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar said the victim was found to have been infected by the virus after attending last Thursday’s gathering of 300 police civilian staff with the IGP in Malacca.

“We believe the epidemic started from one of the staff who came from Kedah to attend the gathering,” he told reporters after attending a 2013 League Table Station Award ceremony in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

He urged the police civilian staff members who attended the gathering to immediately undergo a health screening.

“The group from Kedah who came by bus are now quarantined at hospitals in Kedah for further examination while the rest are quarantined in Malacca,” said Khalid, adding that he had also been called to undergo a health screening.

He said the virus was detected when several civilian staff contracted fever after attending the gathering.

Meanwhile, on the detention of a Malaysian in connection with a riot in Little India, Singapore on Sunday, Khalid said the man was a permanent resident in the country.

“I was informed of the matter and he has been freed unconditionally,” he said.

On another development, Khalid said the police were in the midst of tracking down 57 people under the Crime Prevention Act 1959, who were believed to be involved in a spate of violent crimes, including gangsterism.

He said, under the same act, 41 people had been detained with 30 imposed restrictions.

On the latest ‘Ops Cantas’ statistics between Aug 17 and yesterday, he said a total of 1.1 million people were inspected nationwide, recording the arrests of 39,097 people.

Khalid said a total of 1,160 weapons, including hand-grenades, were seized during the operation which also saw the inspection of 655,118 vehicles. Of the vehicles, 1,632 were identified as stolen.

- Bernama