The government today advised Malaysian Muslims going on the Haj pilgrimage this year to take precautions following a report that a man had died of suspected Ebola virus disease in Saudi Arabia.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said pilgrims should avoid body contact, especially with those who were sick and showing symptoms of the disease.

“If there is a need to do so, you must take precautions like wearing gloves, gowns, masks, and all that.

“There have been many cases of the disease in western Africa because the people have not been able to follow these principles of health,” he told reporters after distributing goodie bags and ‘duit raya’ on behalf of Putera MIC to patients at the paediatric ward of Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

According to the website of the Saudi Arabian Health Ministry, the man died yesterday after he was admitted to the intensive care unit late on Monday when he exhibited symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever following a business trip to Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone and Liberia have been the worst affected by the disease.

The cause of the infection is still under investigation and the authorities are monitoring the people he came into contact with for any symptoms associated with viral hemorrhagic fever, the website said.

The Saudi Arabian Health Ministry had announced a decision to bar pilgrims from Ebola-affected countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from participating in the ‘umrah’ or Haj this year.

At another event earlier, Dr Subramaniam advised the people not to be overly concerned with the Ebola virus disease, saying the government was constantly monitoring the situation.

“The risk of the Ebola virus disease spreading to Malaysia is low in comparison to other diseases such as dengue. Nevertheless, we (the government) have in place a system to check the spread of the disease,” he said after opening the 1st Global Manipal Alumni Health, Science and Technology Convention.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that up to Aug 4, a total of 1,603 people with the Ebola virus disease had been detected in four countries, namely Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, and that 887 of them had died.