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A total of 3 ethnic Phnong villagers in Mondulkiri province have
succumbed to what health officials believe is a strain of flu, though
village residents claim the anger of ancestral spirits is to blame.
Lek Sovannarath, chief of the communicable diseases control bureau at
the provincial health department, said 2 children and one man who was
"around 50 years old" died on Saturday [20 Mar 2010], and that 5
others had since been sent to hospital after experiencing symptoms
such as fever, cough, headache, vomiting and diarrhea.
He said provincial health officials would run tests on the 5 who had
been hospitalised, but he emphasised that the illness was likely a
standard strain of flu that was easily treatable.
However, [A 24-year-old resident] of Porpet village in Pich Chreada
district, where the deaths occurred, said village elders believed
they had been caused by spirits that had been angered when a woman
who had recently given birth went out to take a bath.
"It is a belief. A woman who has just delivered a baby must abstain
from going out to take a bath. She must bathe at home and stay at
home for up to 3 months," he said. "If we break this rule, the
spirits will break us or make us have stomachaches or get another illness."
Regardless of the cause of the deaths, Lek Sovannarath said he was
confident the situation in the village was improving.
--
Communicated by:
PRO/MBDS
<promed-mbds@promedmail.org>
[According to the above newswire, 8 ethnic Phnong villagers in
Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, experienced the symptoms of fever,
cough, headache, vomiting and diarrhea; 3 of them died and 5 others
had been hospitalized. The symptoms of cases according to the
newswire were nonspecific. At present, the health officials suspected
the illness from a standard strain of flu.
PRO/MBDS would greatly appreciate more information on the
investigation and laboratory testing results of this outbreak from
knowledgeable sources.
succumbed to what health officials believe is a strain of flu, though
village residents claim the anger of ancestral spirits is to blame.
Lek Sovannarath, chief of the communicable diseases control bureau at
the provincial health department, said 2 children and one man who was
"around 50 years old" died on Saturday [20 Mar 2010], and that 5
others had since been sent to hospital after experiencing symptoms
such as fever, cough, headache, vomiting and diarrhea.
He said provincial health officials would run tests on the 5 who had
been hospitalised, but he emphasised that the illness was likely a
standard strain of flu that was easily treatable.
However, [A 24-year-old resident] of Porpet village in Pich Chreada
district, where the deaths occurred, said village elders believed
they had been caused by spirits that had been angered when a woman
who had recently given birth went out to take a bath.
"It is a belief. A woman who has just delivered a baby must abstain
from going out to take a bath. She must bathe at home and stay at
home for up to 3 months," he said. "If we break this rule, the
spirits will break us or make us have stomachaches or get another illness."
Regardless of the cause of the deaths, Lek Sovannarath said he was
confident the situation in the village was improving.
--
Communicated by:
PRO/MBDS
<promed-mbds@promedmail.org>
[According to the above newswire, 8 ethnic Phnong villagers in
Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, experienced the symptoms of fever,
cough, headache, vomiting and diarrhea; 3 of them died and 5 others
had been hospitalized. The symptoms of cases according to the
newswire were nonspecific. At present, the health officials suspected
the illness from a standard strain of flu.
PRO/MBDS would greatly appreciate more information on the
investigation and laboratory testing results of this outbreak from
knowledgeable sources.
