The National Chinese Guilds and Associations (NCGA) has called for the formation of an independent commission of inquiry to study the appropriateness of the actions taken during the Nipah epidemic last year and identify any dereliction of duties among officers involved.

The Malaysian government, the Health Ministry in particular, must bear greater responsibility for the spread of the (Nipah) virus from Ipoh to Bukit Pelandok and other parts of Negri Sembilan which subsequently caused the loss of nearly one million livestock and more than a hundred human lives, according to the NCGA JE Victim Relief Committee.

"The unscientific, unprofessional and irresponsible attitude of the government in dealing with the outbreak was serious and lethal," said a report prepared by the committee, titled "The Facts Finding Report on the Encephalitis Outbreak in Malaysia 1998-1999".

The report also recommended that the government provide the victims economical, psychological as well as social assistance and support which are essential for them to rebuild their lives.

In its conclusion, it pointed out that when the Nipah virus first struck the Kinta Valley in October, 1998, the government wrongly diagnosed it as Japanese Encephalitis (JE), astonishingly ignoring many unusual phenomena that suggested otherwise.

"Many pig-breeders, under the advice of the authorities, went back to their farms with the precautionary measures meant only for JE and many of them were infected with the Nipah virus and some lost their precious lives," the report noted.

A few experts have questioned the authorities's judgement of the outbreak in the early stage when the outbreak first hit the Ipoh area; however, consultation of the local experts has been very selective, said the report.

"It is obvious that political consideration has overriding precedence over professional opinions (and) is indeed one of the main reasons why the death toll has shot up," said the report.

"Malaysia urgently needs an Infectious and Emerging Disease Research and Control Centre in order to study, execute, educate, publish and coordinate all matters related to public health and disease outbreak.

"The mistake in wrongly diagnosing 'Coxsackie' virus reminded us that the Health Ministry has to establish our own epidemic sentinel system," said the report.

The 218-page report also suggested that the government should legislate that the livestock farm owners and workers will be compensated reasonably for their livestock culled in the consideration of public health and containment of animal-borne disease outbreak.

The Fact Finding Team was formed to study the causes and the impact of the viral outbreak as well as the ways the authorities deals with the outbreak, which would serve as a reference for the prevention and management of future outbreaks.

During the two months of information collection and fact finding, the members visited the Linggi area of Negri Sembilan several times to interview the victims and find out the real situation, and made field visits to Tambun and Ampang areas of Ipoh.

Meanwhile, the Veterinary Services Department is completing its operation to cull pigs found to be infected with Nipah virus recently at Ladang Weng Yoon in Gopeng, Perak.

It said that the farm has been given the quarantine order and that movement of pigs has been strictly prohibited.