Description of the situation
26 June 1997
Disease Outbreak Reported
Two more deaths from acute viral myocarditits occurred on 24 June bringing the total number of deaths to 29, all in children aged from 5 months to 6 years. A total of over 600 children has been admitted to the observation wards in hospitals in Sarawak State and 66 remained under observation on 26 June. The number of cases being admitted to hospital for observation has declined since 20 June.
Teams from WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with the Ministry of Health and national laboratories to establish the cause of the outbreak which may be an enterovirus. Laboratory investigations on specimens from fatal cases of myocarditis and from cases of hand, foot and mouth disease have been collected for virus isolation in tissue culture, for PCR and other techniques. Preliminary results from the virological studies should be available shortly.