Malaysia warns against online rumors about Ebola
(Xinhua) Updated: 2014-11-07 11:08KUALA LUMPUR -- Any website spreading rumors about several towns in Malaysia having Ebola cases will have action taken against it, Malaysia's Health Ministry said Friday.
"We take this irresponsible act seriously and will collaborate with other enforcement authorities to investigate the source of the rumors and ensure necessary action is taken against them," a press statement issued by the ministry said.
On Thursday, a website in Malaysia claimed that 14 people in Malaysia's northern city of Ipoh, had been "confirmed" having Ebola and a hospital was shut down. It also repeated several stories with different figures for cases in Shah Alam, about 40 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur.
Health Ministry Director General Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, who denied any confirmed cases of Ebola in Malaysia, said a certain website had been posting rumors about Ebola cases being discovered in different towns.
"The ministry would like to reiterate that the rumors spread through social media are not true at all," Dr. Noor Hisham said, adding that the rumors had caused panic and misunderstanding among the people, who had also questioned the monitoring and control measures taken by the ministry.
From continuous monitoring, there were no confirmed Ebola cases in Malaysia so far, he said.
He said that the ministry would continue to monitor the situation and any development from the World Health Organization would be made known from time to time.
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