Dr Timothy William, Consultant in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, told The Borneo Post yesterday that the patient, a 14-year-old female student, is stable and very much on the road to recovery.

The permanent resident of the United States came to Malaysia to visit her relatives in Sabah.

She arrived in Kota Kinabalu on Malaysia Airlines flight MH385 from Hong Kong on June 13 at 6.10pm.

She was screened and confirmed to have fever and cough during screening at Kota Kinabalu International Airport and was referred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she was confirmed to have the viral disease at 12.17pm yesterday.

Dr Timothy also said all contacts of any confirmed case will be home quarantined for seven days.

Meanwhile, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican told Bernama yesterday that the American student's case in Sabah was the 16th in the country.

Four other new cases of Influenza A (H1N1) were detected in the country yesterday, bringing the total to 17.

The latest (17th) case was a 26-year-old Malaysian woman who went for a holiday in Melbourne, Australia on June 4 and arrived back on AirAsia X flight D7 2723 on June 13 at 7.15am at the LCCT in Sepang, he said in a statement.

The woman who showed influenza symptoms on Sunday and warded at the Sungai Buloh Hospital, was confirmed to have Influenza A (H1N1) at 12.35pm yesterday.

Dr Mohd Ismail said the ministry was trying to trace all those, including the crew members and passengers on AirAsia flight D7 2723 and on MH385 on June 13, for follow-up action. They can contact the ministry at 03-88810200 or 03-88810300 for advice.

In an earlier statement yesterday, he disclosed that the 13th case was a 12-year-old Malaysian boy who went on a holiday in Manila, the Philippines for five days from June 8 to 13 with three of his family members.

"The boy, whose seat No. was 15E, arrived on flight MH705 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on June 13 at 7.05pm," he said.

Dr Mohd Ismail said the boy was detected and confirmed to have fever and cough during screening at KLIA and was then warded at Sungai Buloh Hospital.

He was confirmed to have Influenza A (H1N1) at 3.30pm on Sunday and given anti-viral treatment, while his parents and sister whom he had close contact with were quarantined.

The 14th infected case is a 25-year-old British tourist who arrived in Malaysia on June 8 at 9.35am on flight EK342 from Dubai.

The tourist had spent the night at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur before leaving for Tioman Island on Berjaya Air flight J8190 (seat 5A) the next day at 2.30pm from Subang Airport.

In Tioman, he stayed at a hotel in Mukut. On June 10, he started having fever before seeking treatment at the Tekek health clinic on June 13.

He was then taken by boat to Tanjung Gemuk, Rompin at 7.30pm the same day and referred to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan.

Dr Mohd Ismail said the tourist was confirmed to have Influenza A (H1N1) at 3.57pm on Sunday, was given anti-viral treatment and reported to be in stable condition.

"His girlfriend and closest contact in Tioman was placed under quarantine and is in good health," he said.

The 15th case is a 16-year-old Malaysian male student who arrived in the country for a vacation on June 13 at 7.30pm on Jetstar Airlines flight 3K687 (seat 4A) via Singapore.

The teenager, who is studying in Melbourne, had flown to Sydney on June 9 and then to Singapore on Qantas flight QS319 (seat 30D) before arriving in Malaysia.

Dr Mohd Ismail said the student sought treatment at the Ampang Hospital on Sunday and was then referred to Sungai Buloh Hospital where he was confirmed to have the disease at 1.43am yesterday.

"The investigation shows that he began having a cough and fever on June 9. He is in stable condition while his mother who was on the same flight from Singapore is under quarantine," he said.

Dr Mohd Ismail advised the public to postpone travel to countries with Influenza A (H1N1) outbreaks unless really unavoidable, to curb the spread of the viral disease. -- Courtesy of The Borneo Post Online

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