Mystery dysentry leaves 47 PNG dead

       Twin outbreaks of a mystery flu and dysentery in a remote region of Papua New Guinea have killed 47 people and infected another 2,000 villagers, a health official said yesterday.
       And a separate eruption of cholera in the Pacific island has killed seven adults and sickened 73 other people, provincial health adviser Theo Likei said.
       Twenty-seven villagers in the Menyamya district of Morobe province, on the northeast coast, have died from an asyet unidentified influenza since Aug 3,while a further 20 died from dysentery.
       It was not immediately known whether the flu-like illness was H1N1 flu or another strain. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has taken samples from stricken villages and test results could be available within days.
       "We cannot rule out swine [H1N1]flu at the moment but the outbreak is in a remote area, which would be a little surprising if it is H1N1", said WHO representative Eigil Sorensen.
       "But the number of sick and fatalities are certainly higher than normal so we take both of these outbreaks seriously."
       Papua New Guinea has reported around 10 cases of H1N1 flu but they were traced back and appeared to have been imported into the country.
       Local health officials warned the dual outbreak of illness was proving difficult to control as the eruption was in an isolated area eight hours' rough drive from the island's second city of Lae.
       "The problem is that once it gets started in remote areas it's very hard to stop and the area is hard to reach, but we are hoping the illness will remain isolated to pockets of the area so we can manage it," Mr Likei said."This is the worst such crisis we have seen here.
       "The situation is not that encouraging as of today but we will monitor closely over the next two days or so and hope it comes under control."
       A cholera outbreak in the east of the rugged and often inaccessible province is complicating the medical relief effort.
       "We are very concerned and hope cholera hasn't established itself as it would be another great burden to an already strained health system," Health Minister Sasa Zibe said.