#1013
Indonesia has more than its share of woes. Yesterday they suffered another earthquake. They've seen tsunami's, floods, and volcanic eruptions, along with outbreaks of Dengue, Chik, waterborne illnesses, and bird flu.
Now doctors there are facing a new challenge. A medical mystery that has claimed the lives of 8 villagers.
While probably not bird flu related, those of us who watch Indonesia have been following this story for a couple of days. At first, poisoning was suspected, but now a viral or bacterial cause is suspected.
As of right now, no culprit has been identified.
Last year 22 people died in the St. Carolus hospital in Indonesia of a mysterious ailment, and no cause was ever identified by authorities.
While these two incidents are likely unrelated, it does show that medical mysteries are not uncommon in Indonesia. And sometimes, they remain unsolved.
Hopefully they will have better luck identifying this one.
Unknown illness hits Indonesian village killing 8
Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:45AM BST
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian doctors are investigating the outbreak of an unknown illness that has killed eight people and infected 22 in a Java village, a health ministry official said on Thursday.
"This is not SARS or bird flu, but it is certainly as worrying," Marwan Nusri of the Disease Control and Environmental Health Department told Reuters.
"At first we suspected poisoning, but after checking their food and water we didn't find any toxic substance."
Nusri said around 30 people in the remote Kanigoro village, in Central Java province, had been hospitalised in the past three days with similar symptoms such as severe nausea and seizures.
The first batch of eight people died because of delayed treatment, he said.
Nusri added the health ministry was looking at the possibility of a virus or bacteria that targets a specific internal organ, but declined to give details.
Another health ministry official said the illness had spread fast through the village, but does not appear to have any obvious infection pattern.
"Initial findings indicate the virus or bacteria causes liver dysfunction," said the official, who refused to be named.
So far, the hospital has released nine people, and of the 13 people still undergoing treatment, two are in critical condition, he said.
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