Two people die of cholera

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi: Two have died of cholera and 567 others have been affected in Takalar regency, 70 kilometers south of Ujungpandang.

The director of the Pattalassang General Hospital, Rivai Ibrahim, told The Jakarta Post Monday that the epidemic began on Feb. 24 but has only more recently become known after the provincial health agency announced its findings of affected residents.

Residents had earlier thought that the symptoms of vomiting and stomach ache affecting hundreds of people were related to diarrhea.

Rivai said the hospital had earlier admitted an average of 12 persons a day. "Now there are three or four patients a day," he said. He added the 567 patients were in 12 community centers besides his hospital, which was becoming overcrowded.

He added that 60 to 70 percent of those affected were from poor families that consumed unclean water from the river and who had neither toilets nor clean water sources. (27)