Cholera kills 172 in Indonesia's Papua: church

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

JAKARTA (AFP) — At least 172 villagers have died in a cholera outbreak that has triggered unrest in Indonesia's remote eastern Papua province, church authorities said Tuesday.

Church aid workers in the Kamuu valley confirmed the victims had died from severe diarrhoea and vomiting caused by cholera, said Catholic brother Budi Hermawan from the Jayapura archdiocese.

The source of the outbreak, which began in April, was still unknown, but the disease appeared to be spreading via drinking water from a river and products in markets in the highland region, Hermawan told AFP by phone from Jayapura.

Local health authorities and the provincial government were briefed on the crisis in May but failed to act, leading to a more severe outbreak, Hermawan said.

"In...