File picture shows Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (centre) surveying the damage at Taman Barokah and it’s surrounding at Tanah Merah, Kelantan on Disember 31, 2014. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11— Having recovered from an E. coli infection last week, Datuk Seri Najib Razak now considers himself among the hundreds of thousands of Malaysians affected by the country’s worst monsoonal floods in decades.

The prime minister said he was bedridden at home for days and could not conduct visits to his own parliamentary constituency to assess the floods situation there.

“I was supposed to come to Pekan earlier but I am also a victim of the floods.

“Even though I am not qualified to receive aid, but I can be considered a victim because I was infected by E. coli recently,” he was quoted as saying by Mingguan Malaysia.

“It is not an experience I would like to have to go through again. If you don’t believe me ask my wife,” Najib added.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced last week that Najib contracted an E.coli infection, believed to be from food poisoning, after visiting flood-affected areas.

E.coli or the Escherichia coli is a bacterium that is widely found in the human intestine. Certain strains can cause mild to severe food poisoning symptoms. Infection can happen if water or food contaminated by human or animal faeces is consumed.

Najib made several trips to areas devastated by the floods on December 27, including Kelantan, which is among the states worst hit in the disaster that saw almost 250,000 people evacuated from their homes at one point.

He has since made a full recovery.