The Health Ministry is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the rise in reported typhoid fever cases, especially in Kuala Lumpur.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya said the investigation would be conducted on food premises and a 14-day close order would be issued if they were found to be not complying with the cleanliness level specified.

“We are investigating the source and carriers of the disease and whether the increase is due to foreign workers or locals. The cause of the disease is unhygienic food preparation, therefore food handlers must always be clean,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby in Kuala Lumpur today.

He was commenting on the increase in typhoid fever cases in Kuala Lumpur, with 32 cases reported since August.

However, Dr Hilmi said the increase was still not considered as an outbreak but only additional cases in a month.

“It is not an outbreak, it is something extra or an increase in the number of cases. Every now and then we get such cases. This is not something out of normal. We don’t have to worry,” Dr Hilmi said.

Meanwhile, Federal Territory Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said his ministry would direct the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) Licensing Division to limit the recruitment of foreign workers in the kitchen of food premises in the capital city.

Tengku Adnan said DBKL would also be meeting with authorities and conducting checks at food premises, and eateries could have their licence revoked if operators failed to follow the rules.

He said DBKL would cooperate with the Health Ministry to find the best approach to prevent the spread of typhoid in the city.

- Bernama