Sujudi says no bans on Indians

Sujudi says no bans on Indians

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Sujudi said that Indonesia
will not bar visitors arriving from India as the death toll rose
to 58 yesterday due to the spread of the pneumonic plague which
has afflicted 1,500 people in India in the last two weeks.

The minister said that visitors from India will be required to
fill in forms concerning the state of their health and their
itinerary in Indonesia upon their arrival.

"We feel there is no need to bar visitors from India or those
who stop over in the country unless they are ill or suspected of
being infected by the bacteria causing the disease," Antara
quoted Sujudi as saying.

The agency said the fact that there is no direct flight from
India to Indonesia is another reason for the government not to
bar visitors from India.

Visitors from India come to Indonesia via Bangkok or
Singapore. These transit points are expected to detect if the
visitors are infected by the disease or not.

When asked about actions by India's neighboring countries,
such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, which have taken some
precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the disease, Sujudi
said the position of the countries is different from Indonesia.

"It is understood if the two countries ban visitors from
India," he said.

A long list of foreign governments have taken steps to guard
against the sickness -- advising against travel to India and
screening, or even barring, travelers and cargo from India.

Bangladesh, for example, has sealed off all but seven of the
33 land entry points from India, and health officials have
started screening people and fumigating aircraft and vehicles
coming from India to ward of the disease.

On Wednesday, Pakistan had already suspended cross-border
train services, having previously suspended Karachi-Bombay
flights.

The U.S. federal government issued a plague advisory on
Thursday to all travelers bound for India, warning them to avoid
areas of the country stricken by outbreaks of the deadly disease.

Sujudi said that he has directed all health offices in
Indonesia's provinces and regencies to increase vigilance against
respiratory disorders as part of anticipatory measures to halt a
possible spread of pneumonic plague in the country.

To allay fears among the public, Sujudi said there is no need
for alarm about the disease as the World Health Organization
(WHO) said on Thursday that the killer plague in India was not
likely to spread abroad and said the outbreak was expected to be
over within three weeks.

The Indian embassy in Jakarta said on Thursday that not every
Indian traveling abroad was a potential a plague carrier, adding
that "rampant screening of Indians landing abroad should be
preferably be avoided".

"The problem of the spreading of the pneumonic plague is now
localized in the areas of Surat in Gujarat and has already been
contained," B. Gosh, first secretary at the Indian Embassy, said.

Indonesian Ambassador to India, Sahala Radjagukguk, told
Antara in India's capital city of New Delhi that none of the
Indonesians living in India is infected by the lethal plague.

Radjagukguk said that currently there are around 50
Indonesians taking their post-graduate degrees in New Delhi. He
added that an Indonesian school had been closed temporarily
following the advice of the Indian government.

The outbreak has spread from its epicenter near the western
city of Surat across the country to Bombay, Calcutta and New
Delhi.

Contagious

Pneumonic plague is highly contagious and spreads between humans
through contaminated sputum or breath.

In a related development, Suheni Soedjatmiko, a spokesperson
for the Ministry of Health, said yesterday that the occurrence of
pneumonic plague in Indonesia was first reported in Tanjung Perak
harbor, East Java, in 1910.

"Now some cases of the plague can still be found occasionally
in some districts in Boyolali, Central Java, and some areas in
East Java and Yogyakarta," Suheni said.

Dr. Soeharto Wirjowidagdo, the head of the Jakarta Health
Office, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that in June 29 people
were infected by pneumonic plague in South Jakarta and 137 people
were infected by the disease in East Jakarta.

Soeharto called on parents not to panic if their children have
any symptoms similar to those of the plague, such as coughs,
runny nose and chills.

"Just go to the nearest clinic," said Soeharto, adding that
certain penicillin strains, such as streptomycine, tetracycline
and chloramfenichol, if given between eight and 24 hours after
early symptoms of the plague appeared, could treat the disease.
(has/09)