27 Apr 2006

Diarrhoea outbreak kills at least 58 in Papua

3:18 pm on 27 April 2006

A diarrhoea outbreak in a remote area of Indonesia's Papua province has reportedly killed at least 60 people and left hundreds of others ill.

The Jakarta Post reports that health workers are treating villagers in Papua's Jayawijaya regency to prevent the further spread of the outbreak.

In Wamena Hospital alone, two more people died on Monday, bringing the total number of deaths in the hospital since the outbreak on March 16 to 10.

However, the Jayawijaya Regency Health Office put the number of fatalities at 90 people.

And the head of Jayawijaya's Health Office, Perry Jigibalom, says the reported number of victims who have died in hospital and in remote villages, has risen to 100.

In Assologaima district, where the number of people who have died of the diarrheal disease has reached 26, health workers started a mass treatment on Monday.

The treatment drive would target over 17,000 residents in the district's 20 villages, however the workers have complained of limited medical supplies as well as limited staff to provide treatment.