Clearing the air over earlier media reports that the virus was detected in a pig, Wong said health officials had informed his ministry a child was found to have been infected at Kampung Lubong, about 100km from here.

He said he had instructed officers from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to check on all pig farms in the district.

“It is a human infection. We are trying to identify how this could happen.

“We have not detected any infection among the pigs. There is no danger now but we are not going to wait, so we have taken precautionary measures,” he told FMT.

Wong said it was standard procedure to check all pigs when a JE case was reported.

An internal letter issued by the state DVS informing of a JE case in Tambunan went viral on social media yesterday.

The letter said the Tambunan DVS team had responded and found seven traditional pig breeders at the village. Altogether, there are 80 pigs in the farms.

Meanwhile, Sabah Health and Well-being Minister Frankie Poon said he was waiting for details from the state health director.

An infected person develops inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) and suffers symptoms such as sudden onsets of headache, high fever, neck stiffness, tremors and convulsions and muscle weakness. It can effect humans and animals.

The virus can be passed on to humans by infected animals or livestock through an infected Culex mosquito.

There is currently no cure for JE, with the JE vaccine deemed to be the best protection against the virus.

The Sarawak health department had last month reminded the public to take extra precaution after five cases of JE were confirmed in the state.