KUANTAN: The Pahang Health Department has brushed aside claims about a widespread zoonotic malaria epidemic among monkeys at Teluk Cempedak and Taman Teruntum here.
Its director Dr Shaari Ngadiman said the department had not received any report on the monkey malaria infection, which has been widely circulating on online social media.
He advised the public not to be easily influenced by the viral news as some quarters, especially visitors, could be afected by the false information.
"Since the news has gone viral on social media, people will become worried and choose to stay away from these places.
"The monkeys in Teluk Cempedak and Taman Teruntum are not the cause for zoonotic diseases (diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans) as alleged on social media," he said today.
Dr Shaari was commenting on claims on a Facebook page claiming there were three zoonotic malaria cases identified in Kuantan, namely two in Sungai Lembing and one in Kuantan.
The posting advised members of the public to stay away from visiting Teluk Cempedak and the Teruntum Mini Zoo as a huge population of monkeys occupied the secondary forest there.
In was previously reported that 2,584 zoonotic cases were among the 3,923 malaria cases reported in the country in 2014, and some 730 cases were due to foreign workers in the plantation sector.
Meanwhile, a State Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) officer confirmed there has been no report of any zoonotic cases in Pahang this year.
He reminded members of the public to avoid feeding monkeys as they could become aggressive.