KUALA PILAH, 21 February - A total of 368 out of 460 orang asli have been screened by the Negeri Sembilan Health Department (JKNS) up to February 10th, as a measure to detect leprosy cases in Kampung Chergun and Kampung Guntur here.

The Ministry of Health (MOH), in a statement, said that up to now, a total of nine cases of have been confirmed as leprosy and all patients have been given treatment according to a regimen of guidelines that have been established.

"One of the patients, aged 18, from Kampung Chergun died on February 17th.

"Prior to that, the patient was admitted to Hospital Tuanku Ampuan Najihah (HTAN) Kuala Pilah after experiencing symptoms of fever, abdominal pain, and vomiting. She was given the appropriate treatment by a HTAN Internal Medicine specialist as well as consultation services from the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Dermatology department" the statement read.

However, the patient's family members took the patient home on February 16th and the patient died the next day.

In the meantime, the MOH continues to carry out case and contact detection activities as well as infection prevention and control measures.

The MOH also asked individuals with symptoms such as leprosy to seek treatment at a nearby health facility.

It also assured that the leprosy situation in Kuala Pilah is under control and leprosy patients no longer need to be isolated because there is already an effective treatment.