Haj Pilgrims Need Not Go For Avian Flu Jab

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysian pilgrims performing the Haj this year need not go for vaccination against Avian flu amid worldwide concern on the killer virus reported to have infected several Asian countries.
Tabung Haji General Manager (Health) Dr Haji Shuhaimi Ismail said there was no cause for alarm as Malaysia was still free of infection from the influenza.
"In the first place, there is no vaccine against the bird flu as yet. The Avian influenza usually does not infect human being," he said when asked on steps taken by Tabung Haji to check the spread of the virus.
Didier Pittet, a health expert from the Geneva University Hospital, was reported to have called for the cancellation of the Haj, in the event of the outbreak of the influenza on human being.
The concern heightened following the reported death of chickens at a poultry farm in southeast Riyadh.
The report was refuted by the Saudi Haj Affairs Minister, Hamed Al-Manae, saying no case was detected in the country and that his government was taking every precautionary measure against the virus.
Dr Shuhaimi said it was the responsibility of the Saudi Arabian International Disease Control Divison of the Saudi Health Ministry to provide appropriate protection to the pilgrims.
The quadrivalent meningoccoccal vaccination given to intending pilgrims as required by the Saudi government was an anti-viral infection and it was sufficient for protection, he said.
He however advised pilgrims who kept pet birds or poultry to have proper checks in case they had any infection from the flu which had reportedly killed 67 people in Asia since 2003.
The first batch of 444 Malaysians will leave for the Holy Land on Dec 3.