Pigeon Faeces Ruled Out As Contaminant

---

PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has ruled out pigeon droppings as a contaminant that caused vomiting and breathing difficulty among pupils of SK Tanjung Puteri Resort in Pasir Gudang, Johor.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the ministry, together with the Energy, Science, Techno­lo­gy, Environment and Climate Chan­ge Ministry, had updated all findings and come up with an analysis.
“Until today, we have not found (any relation to bird droppings).
“We will keep monitoring the situation closely,” he told reporters after launching the Kurangkan Gula Hidup Sihat (Cut Sugar Live Healthy) campaign at Giant Hypermarket in Subang Jaya, Selangor, yesterday.
He was commenting on the remark by Johor Health, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar on Tuesday that Johor was not ruling out the possibility that contamination from bird droppings had caused several episodes of vomiting and breathing difficulty among pupils of the primary school.
The ministry, Dzulkefly noted, had also engaged an independent expert committee to conduct a probe.“We will compare their findings with ours later, it depends on how soon they can complete theirs,’’ he said, adding that the committee’s report was expected to be wrapped up by this month.
Meanwhile, Dzulkefly said the forensics team that carried out post-mortems on the skeletal rem­ains of 12 Orang Asli in Kam­p­ung Kuala Koh in Gua Musang, Kela­n­tan, would deliberate on the cause of death.
“The team will meet today (yesterday) and conclude its findings. They will brief me later,” he said.
The ministry, he said, took note of the opinion of Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia president Dr Steven Chow, who said manganese poisoning should not be excluded as a possible cause of death of the Bateq people in Kuala Koh.
STAR Online

---