The outbreak of Nipah virus, affecting pigs and pig-farm workers, was first noted in September 1998 in the north-western part of peninsular Malaysia. By March 1999, the outbreak had spread to other pig-farming areas of the country, inclusive of the neighbouring country, Singapore. A total of 283 human cases of viral encephalitis with 109 deaths were recorded in Malaysia from 29 September 1998 t...

BACKGROUND Until recently, Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in humans was misdiagnosed as Plasmodium malariae malaria. The objectives of the present study were to determine the geographic distribution of P. knowlesi malaria in the human population in Malaysia and to investigate 4 suspected fatal cases. METHODS Sensitive and specific nested polymerase chain reaction was used to identify all Plasmod...

Research on atmospheric aerosols has become an important component in atmospheric studies due to its tremendous implications to radiation budget, climate change, hydrological and carbon cycles. Several recent studies have analysed the spatio-temporal patterns of aerosols and their relationship with meteorological conditions which is essential to quantify regional and global climate changes. How...

The first objective of this study was to provide data of arsenic (As) levels in Peninsular Malaysia based on soil samples and accumulation of As in Centella asiatica collected from 12 sampling sites in Peninsular Malaysia. The second objective was to assess the accumulation of As in transplanted C. asiatica between control and semi-polluted or polluted sites. Four sites were selected which were...

A total of 719 wild rats were captured from four localities representing the west (Kuala Lumpur), east (Kuantan), north (Georgetown) and south (Malacca) to determine the diversity of blood protozoan from the urban wild rat population in peninsular Malaysia. Five rat species were recovered with Rattus rattus diardii being the most dominant species, followed by Rattus norvegicus, Rattus exulans, ...

Conservation is imperative for the Asian snakeheads Channa striata, as the species has been overfished due to its high market demand. Using maternal markers (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (COI)), we discovered that evolutionary forces that drove population divergence did not show any match between the genetic and morphological divergence pattern. However, there is evidence o...

The fasting lipid profile of a sample of Malays, Chinese and Indians in Peninsular Malaysia was studied to see whether these might explain differences in the rate of coronary heart disease mortality amongst the three ethnic groups. Fifty healthy subjects were studied from each of the three groups. They were matched for age, body mass index, gender and smoking habits, if any. The total cholester...

Multilocus microsatellite genotyping of Plasmodium knowlesi isolates previously indicated 2 divergent parasite subpopulations in humans on the island of Borneo, each associated with a different macaque reservoir host species. Geographic divergence was also apparent, and independent sequence data have indicated particularly deep divergence between parasites from mainland Southeast Asia and Borne...

We are reporting a case of an eye lesion caused by an adult Brugia malayi. The patient was a 3-year-old Chinese boy from Kemaman District, Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia. He presented with a one week history of redness and palpebral swelling of his right eye. He claimed that he could see a worm in his right eye beneath the conjunctiva. He had no history of traveling overseas and the family kep...

The purpose of this study ??s to profile older breast cancer survivors in Malaysia. In a survey study, ? custom made questionnaire was administered to 69 breast cancer patients and survivors between 60 and 84 years of age in Peninsular Malaysia. The main ethnic group recorded was Chinese, followed by Malay and Indian. The majority of women were married (87%) and had children (84.1%). Just over ...