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Malaysia culls pigs as Nipah virus strikes again
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Malaysia culls pigs as Nipah virus strikes again the discovery of this latest outbreak wo workers at a quarantined pig came during routine blood testing of farm and two from an abattoir pigs. have been infected by Nipah virus in To prevent spread Malaysia’s eastern of the virus, the state state of Sarawak, has quarantined 15 according to health Rights were not pig farms, culled hunofficials. granted to dreds of pigs, and Of 160 workers include this barred farms from from pig farms and transporting pigs anyabattoirs who were image in where until investigascreened for Nipah electronic tions are completed. virus, only four tested In addition, hundreds positive, said media. Please of randomly collected Sarawak’s Health refer to the blood samples from Director, Yao Sik pigs have been sent to Chi. The official printed journal. Australia for further stressed that the situinvestigation; the ation could not be results have not yet compared to last been announced. year’s outbreak, Nipah virus, a which resulted in newly discovered more than 100 deaths Containing the spread paramyxovirus, which and led to the culling was named last year after the badly of more than one million pigs in most hit village of Sungai Nipah in of Malaysia’s 13 states (see Lancet Malaysia, causes a “severe, rapidly 1999; 354: 1256–59). progressive encephalitis with a high The infection is associated with mortality rate”, says Chong Tin Tan recent contact with infected pigs, and
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(University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). “Around 300 cases of the disease have been reported since the outbreak started.” Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Malaya announced that they have discovered that the Island Flying Fox (Pteropus hypomelanus), a fruit bat found in islands off the Malaysian coast may be the natural reservoir of the virus. The researchers were quoted by newspapers as saying: “There seems to be an inadequate amount and strength of the virus present in the flying foxes to enable them to infect humans directly. But when it goes into the pigs, the virus multiplies rapidly.” Singapore has announced that the ban on pork import, which was imposed last year after 11 abattoir workers developed acute Nipah-virus infection from imported pigs, will be lifted only when Agri-food and Veterinary Authority is confident that Malaysia has eradicated the virus. Khabir Ahmad
Europe raises concerns about Slovakian health care
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he alleged shoddy medical treatment of Slovakia’s President Rudolf Schuster, has highlighted the plight of Slovakia’s less-mobile sick. Schuster had to be airlifted to neighbouring Austria for treatment after complications following emergency bowel surgery in Slovakia—as a result, the country’s Health Minister, Tibor Sagát, was forced to resign. The health deficit has grown from 13 to 15 billion Slovak crowns (US$ 290–357 million) in 2 years, and last month a strike by pharmacists was averted only when the Prime Minister promised to obtain
a loan to cover 80% of their bills for the next 3 years. According to the Slovak Spectator newspaper, many employers—including the government—fail to pay health contributions. The European Union (EU) has expressed concern about the health services in countries such as Slovakia that aspire to join the union. On average, their proportion of gross domestic product spent on health is just over half of the EU average. Under the present rules, if Slovakia were a member, citizens could, like their President, to have more serious ailments
treated in Austria. But Austria’s ensuing bills to the Slovakian government would be unlikely to receive prompt treatment. Conceding that the affair had brought bad publicity to Slovakia, Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan said he did not expect the issue to damage the country’s accession talks with the EU. “The European Commission is very rational, the assessed criteria are very objective, they will not influence the talks, although we may be watched more closely”, he said. Nigel Glass
Irish Senator insults consultants—and pig farmers n Irish Senator, who accused hospital consultants of having the “bedside manners of a pig-house keeper”, has come under fire from both farming and medical organisations for his comments made during a speech in the Senate when he called for courses in bedside manners for doctors. He made the comments just before the chamber adjourned for a lengthy summer recess. The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) called Senator
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Liam Fitzgerald’s comments “extremely offensive and hurtful”. The IHCA secretary, Finbarr Fitzpatrick defended the consultants and fired a volley of his own at the Senator: “Of course, if they [consultants] were going on 4 months summer holidays like Senator Fitzgerald they would have plenty of time to concentrate on their social skills”, he said. The Irish Farmers Association (IFA), waded into the verbal
mire with a statement saying that the Senator’s remarks were “highly insulting” to pig farmers and represented a clichéd view of pig farming. “These remarks are totally uncalled for, a gratuitous insult to the people involved in a serious business”, said an IFA spokesman who pointed out there are 10 000 people working in the Irish pig industry. Karen Birchard
THE LANCET • Vol 356 • July 15, 2000
For personal use only. Not to be reproduced without permission of The Lancet.
Malaysia culls pigs as Nipah virus strikes again the discovery of this latest outbreak wo workers at a quarantined pig came during routine blood testing of farm and two from an abattoir pigs. have been infected by Nipah virus in To prevent spread Malaysia’s eastern of the virus, the state state of Sarawak, has quarantined 15 according to health Rights were not pig farms, culled hunofficials. granted to dreds of pigs, and Of 160 workers include this barred farms from from pig farms and transporting pigs anyabattoirs who were image in where until investigascreened for Nipah electronic tions are completed. virus, only four tested In addition, hundreds positive, said media. Please of randomly collected Sarawak’s Health refer to the blood samples from Director, Yao Sik pigs have been sent to Chi. The official printed journal. Australia for further stressed that the situinvestigation; the ation could not be results have not yet compared to last been announced. year’s outbreak, Nipah virus, a which resulted in newly discovered more than 100 deaths Containing the spread paramyxovirus, which and led to the culling was named last year after the badly of more than one million pigs in most hit village of Sungai Nipah in of Malaysia’s 13 states (see Lancet Malaysia, causes a “severe, rapidly 1999; 354: 1256–59). progressive encephalitis with a high The infection is associated with mortality rate”, says Chong Tin Tan recent contact with infected pigs, and
T
(University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). “Around 300 cases of the disease have been reported since the outbreak started.” Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Malaya announced that they have discovered that the Island Flying Fox (Pteropus hypomelanus), a fruit bat found in islands off the Malaysian coast may be the natural reservoir of the virus. The researchers were quoted by newspapers as saying: “There seems to be an inadequate amount and strength of the virus present in the flying foxes to enable them to infect humans directly. But when it goes into the pigs, the virus multiplies rapidly.” Singapore has announced that the ban on pork import, which was imposed last year after 11 abattoir workers developed acute Nipah-virus infection from imported pigs, will be lifted only when Agri-food and Veterinary Authority is confident that Malaysia has eradicated the virus. Khabir Ahmad
Europe raises concerns about Slovakian health care
T
he alleged shoddy medical treatment of Slovakia’s President Rudolf Schuster, has highlighted the plight of Slovakia’s less-mobile sick. Schuster had to be airlifted to neighbouring Austria for treatment after complications following emergency bowel surgery in Slovakia—as a result, the country’s Health Minister, Tibor Sagát, was forced to resign. The health deficit has grown from 13 to 15 billion Slovak crowns (US$ 290–357 million) in 2 years, and last month a strike by pharmacists was averted only when the Prime Minister promised to obtain
a loan to cover 80% of their bills for the next 3 years. According to the Slovak Spectator newspaper, many employers—including the government—fail to pay health contributions. The European Union (EU) has expressed concern about the health services in countries such as Slovakia that aspire to join the union. On average, their proportion of gross domestic product spent on health is just over half of the EU average. Under the present rules, if Slovakia were a member, citizens could, like their President, to have more serious ailments
treated in Austria. But Austria’s ensuing bills to the Slovakian government would be unlikely to receive prompt treatment. Conceding that the affair had brought bad publicity to Slovakia, Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan said he did not expect the issue to damage the country’s accession talks with the EU. “The European Commission is very rational, the assessed criteria are very objective, they will not influence the talks, although we may be watched more closely”, he said. Nigel Glass
Irish Senator insults consultants—and pig farmers n Irish Senator, who accused hospital consultants of having the “bedside manners of a pig-house keeper”, has come under fire from both farming and medical organisations for his comments made during a speech in the Senate when he called for courses in bedside manners for doctors. He made the comments just before the chamber adjourned for a lengthy summer recess. The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) called Senator
A
230
Liam Fitzgerald’s comments “extremely offensive and hurtful”. The IHCA secretary, Finbarr Fitzpatrick defended the consultants and fired a volley of his own at the Senator: “Of course, if they [consultants] were going on 4 months summer holidays like Senator Fitzgerald they would have plenty of time to concentrate on their social skills”, he said. The Irish Farmers Association (IFA), waded into the verbal
mire with a statement saying that the Senator’s remarks were “highly insulting” to pig farmers and represented a clichéd view of pig farming. “These remarks are totally uncalled for, a gratuitous insult to the people involved in a serious business”, said an IFA spokesman who pointed out there are 10 000 people working in the Irish pig industry. Karen Birchard
THE LANCET • Vol 356 • July 15, 2000
For personal use only. Not to be reproduced without permission of The Lancet.