Helping the vulnerable: A file photo of medical personnel carrying out screening of the Orang Asli last month. — Picture courtesy of the Department of Orang Asli Development
KUALA PILAH: For decades now, older folk in the Orang Asli community in Kampung Guntur and Kampung Chergun near here have told ancient stories of leprosy in their midst.
It was almost a myth.
Even 50-year-olds had only heard from grandparents of people who suffered from skin ailments, muscle weakness or deformities in their hands and feet.
“The elders used to tell us stories about some members of our community being sent for treatment and being quarantined at the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Hospital,” said Kampung Chergun village head Sisah Jantan, 50.
Then, the community received a shock.
A villager in neighbouring Kampung Guntur tested positive for the disease during a screening exercise by health authorities last August.
“We were really taken aback. And then, we had more cases in January,” said Sisah, who has been the village head for eight years now.
There are 42 families in her village.
To make matters worse, an 18-year-old girl in Kampung Chergun died on Monday.
On Wednesday, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said nine people from five families had been infected.
Five were from Kampung Chergun and four from Kampung Guntur.
Aminuddin said the authorities would quarantine all villagers.
The Mentri Besar said the Jeram Tengkek Ecopark near the two villages has also been closed indefinitely to prevent the disease from spreading.
Sisah, however, felt there was no need to quarantine the villagers as the sick were already undergoing treatment
“This is not a plague or epidemic. The infection rate is low and the situation is under control,” she said.
Kampung Guntur headman Adnan Sulak, 59, said he too had never come across a leprosy case in the village until August last year.
“We have no idea how the person was infected,” he said, adding that there were more than 100 families in the village.
Like Sisah, Adnan said there was no need to quarantine both villages.
“Even today our children are attending school. We have not received any order,” he said.
Adnan, who has been village head for the past three years, said imposing a quarantine order could lead to the children being subjected to ridicule later.
“We were told that once you are under medication, the risk of infecting others is minimal.
“So why put us all under quarantine?” he asked, adding that medical officers also regularly made rounds in both villages.
Adnan also questioned the cause of death of the girl who was said to have succumbed to the disease on Monday.
“In her death certificate, it says she died of liver failure.
“The Mentri Besar saying the victim died of leprosy has only instilled fear in the community,” he said, adding that the victim had contracted leprosy but it did not cause her death.
Adnan also hoped the authorities would be able to carry out a clean-up exercise to prevent it from spreading.
