KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — A total of 173 Orang Asli Bateq people went back home to Kampung Kuala Koh in Gua Musang, Kelantan, yesterday after they were quarantined for over a month for measles.
Bernama reported that the Orang Asli had been quarantined at a temporary evacuation centre at Taman Etnobotani here since June 18.
Kelantan and Terengganu Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) director Hashim Alang Abdul Hamid was quoted saying that the semi-nomadic indigenous people were sent back home after they were certified to be free of measles.
Fifteen people from the Bateq tribe, mostly adults, died from last May to June. Health authorities determined the cause of death to be measles based on autopsies on three bodies, even though post-mortems on the remaining victims were inconclusive.
The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Association Malaysia (FPMPAM), which visited Kuala Koh last April 28, alleged that clinical evidence and data showed measles was not the only cause of death.
