Diarrhea claims 18 lives in East Nusa Tenggara

Diarrhea claims 18 lives in East Nusa Tenggara

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Diarrhea has claimed 18 lives
and hospitalized 740 people in the regencies of Timor Tengah
Selatan and Belu over the past week, officials said yesterday.

The worst hit is Timor Tengah Selatan, where 13 people have
died. Health officials blamed the high number of fatalities on
locals who reported the illness "too late".

Timor Tengah Selatan regent Piet Sabuna said that the epidemic
was caused by villagers' lack of cleanliness. Locals cannot kick
their bad habit of drinking unboiled water, he added.

Sabuna, local military chief Lt. Col. Adnan M. and chief of
the local health office Markus Righuta visited the stricken areas
on Tuesday.

The regency administration has sent in medical supplies and
ordered health workers to stay alert round-the-clock until the
epidemic is brought under control.

The first case was reported on Feb. 20 but the authorities
were notified only four days later when 13 people had died.

In Belu regency, the illness had claimed five lives and
another 700 people were still in hospital, regent Servatius Muti
Parera said.

The illness swept the subdistricts of West Malaka and East
Malaka.

When visiting one of the affected subdistrict earlier this
week, Parera asked villagers to promote cleanliness and stop
their habit of eating uncooked prawns with vinegar.

The regency government has planned to embark on an information
campaign aiming at improving people's awareness of cleanliness.
(yac)