Disease outbreak in Johor Baru prison, official says it's not Mers

JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A disease outbreak, believed to be meningitis, has occurred at the Ayer Molek prison in Johor Baru resulting in at least four inmates being admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital.

Johor Health and Environment exco Datuk Ayub Rahmat said on Friday that about 16 inmates had displayed similar symptoms and as many as 900 inmates had undergone medical checks so far.

"Initially there were concerns that it could be a Middle East Respiratory Coronavirus (Mers-Cov) outbreak but we have confirmed that it is not.

"An official statement will be issued by the Health Ministry on the details of the outbreak soon," he said, assuring the public the situation was under control.

Malaysia has been on high alert since it saw the country's first victim of Mers-Cov in April. The 54-year-old man died in a Johor hospital after returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca on March 29.

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