Bali's tourist sector fears dengue outbreak

Bali's tourist sector fears dengue outbreak

By Sutha Sastradhinata

DENPASAR (Antara): The country's tourist industry is trying
desperately to fend off the stinging blows from unfavorable
international media reports.

Along with the mortifying reports on forest fires and
widespread riots, add a fresh nemesis: the outbreak of dengue
fever in several provinces.

Its name almost synonymous with tourists and resorts in the
country, Bali has also, unfortunately, been hit by the mosquito-
borne disease. It is now gripped by fears about possible side
effects on the tourist industry as foreign tour operators have
started to inquire about the situation.

The Japanese government has reportedly even warned its
citizens to be wary when visiting Southeast Asia, including
Indonesia.

Bali Governor Ida Bagus Oka, in trying to quell all the
anxiety, has even given his assurances that no foreign visitors
to the province would be infected.

"I give my assurance that tourists visiting Bali will never
get a dengue fever. Bali is well prepared to overcome this
disease."

He said that while there was no medicine available to cure
dengue fever, this did not mean the problem could not be overcome
or eradicated. The physician and former rector of state-owned
Udayana University here said it was most important for people
with symptoms of the disease to seek medical treatment,
particularly to receive intravenous fluids.

He said the provincial administration had adequate intravenous
infusion supplies in anticipation of more cases of the disease.

The chairman of the Balinese executive board of the Indonesian
Association of Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI), I Gde Wirata, said
the association had not received any complaints from tourists
about the outbreak in Bali.

Nevertheless, he said the association had called on all hotels
in Bali to monitor sanitation and environmental cleanliness.

It is expected that the dengue fever epidemic, whose virus is
transmitted by the Aedes aegypty mosquito, would be brought to an
end soon.

An official of the provincial office of the ministry of
health, I Wayan Astawa, estimated that the dengue fever cycle
would end later this month.

"If the campaign launched in March and April to eliminate
mosquito breeding areas is successfully implemented, the dengue
fever cycle is expected to come to an end in late May. Bali is
one of the provinces considered quite successful in dealing with
the dengue fever epidemic," he said.

He said that to speed up the termination of the dengue fever,
which usually arrived in the monsoon season, the Bali provincial
health ministry office had embarked on a number of measures,
including mass fumigations in areas close to roads and those
inaccessible to vehicles.

Last February, he said, health services in all districts in
Bali undertook mass fumigation. However, as the number of dengue
fever patients is on the rise, another round of mass fumigations
was conducted, he added.

The office also urged all hotels, particularly those still
using open water tanks in bathrooms, to continue to be alert to
the possibility of tourists being infected by the disease, he
added.

Data at the Bali regional office of the ministry of health
shows that the incidence of dengue fever in Bali was 191 cases in
January to March of this year, of which there were six
fatalities. Topping the list of dengue fever cases during this
period was Denpasar municipality (117), Buleleng and Badung
districts (24 each), Karangasem (12), Gianyar (11) and Tabanan
district (1). No cases have been reported in Klungkung, Bangli
and Jembrana districts.

Head of the Bali regional office of the ministry of health,
Wayan Semendra, meanwhile said that the incidence of the disease
this year was actually lower than in 1997, when 707 cases of
dengue fever were reported. In 1996 and 1995, he added, there
were 260 and 144 cases respectively.

He blamed the fatalities on people seeking help when their
illness was already too advanced.