9 Nov 2010

13 die in PNG in suspected cholera outbreak

3:37 pm on 9 November 2010

13 people are dead and another 64 people have been admitted to hospital in Papua New Guinea following a suspected cholera outbreak on the island of Daru.

The newspaper, The National, reports that according to Daru General Hospital's acting chief executive Dr Amos Lano 260 people have been treated in the past three weeks.

He says those who died were children who had suffered from acute watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain and vomiting, which are all symptoms of cholera.

Dr Lano says specimens have been sent for testing and all patients are being treated as cholera victims while they wait for the results.

He says some patients felt sick after drinking well water which is being checked for contamination.

The acting chief executive says the disease is likely to spread because of the continuous movement of people from the affected areas.

But he says health authorities are trying to set up a quarantine service.