14 people have died of diarrhea in Mimika

The Jakarta Post , Merauke, Papua | Fri, 06/20/2008 10:59 AM | National

Fourteen people in Mimika regency, Papua have died in the past three weeks after suffering from diarrhea forcing the local health authority to declare it an extra ordinary incident, a health official said Friday.

Syaiful Takim, who is in charge for the extraordinary incident, said the villagers were from Sumapro and Wapo villages in Jita district.

"We are currently still investigating the cause of the outbreak," he said.

"We have deployed medical team to the area although we are short of medical staff and medicine."

Initial observation pointed to poor sanitation in both coastal villages as well as the fact that villagers consume water from the river for their daily usage.

A worse outbreak hit the region in 2004 killing more people. (Markus Makur/****)

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