Dengue fever claims 30 lives

BANDUNG: In less than two weeks, 23 more people have died of dengue fever in West Java, putting the total number of deaths at 30 people from the beginning of the year.

West Java Governor Danny Setiawan declared on Friday that the dengue fever outbreak in the province an emergency.

Head of the province's environmental health agency, Udeng Daman, said that the number of dengue fever cases had risen to 745. Toward the end of January, there were 113 cases of dengue fever and seven people reportedly died of the disease.

"Since the cases have tripled, I declare it an emergency," said Danny. -- JP