U.S. apologizes for syphilis experiment in Guatemala
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON | Fri Oct 1, 2010 5:24pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States apologized on Friday for an experiment conducted in the 1940s in which U.S. government researchers deliberately infected Guatemalan prison inmates, women and mental patients with syphilis.
In the experiment, aimed at testing the then-new drug penicillin, inmates were infected by prostitutes and later treated with the antibiotic.
"The sexually transmitted disease inoculation study conducted from 1946-1948 in Guatemala was clearly unethical," Secretary of State Hillary Clint¬¬on and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
"Although these events occurred more than 64 years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health. We deeply regret that it happened, and we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices," the statement said.
Guatemala condemned the experiment as a crime against humanity and said it would study whether there were grounds to take the case to an international court.
"President Alvaro Colom considers these experiments crimes against humanity and Guatemala reserves the right to denounce them in an international court," said a government statement, which announced a commission to investigate the matter.
Guatemalan human rights activists called for the victims' families to be compensated, but a U.S. official said it was not clear there would be any compensation.
President Barack Obama called Colom to offer his personal apology for what had happened, a White House spokesman said.
The experiment, which echoed the infamous 1960s Tuskegee study on black American men who were deliberately left untreated for syphilis, was uncovered by Susan Reverby, a professor of women's studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
696 EXPOSED TO STD
Reverby found out about it this year while following up on a book about Tuskegee and, unusually for a researcher, informed the U.S. government before she published her findings.
"In addition to the penitentiary, the studies took place in an insane asylum and an army barracks," Reverby said.
"In total, 696 men and women were exposed to the disease and then offered penicillin. The studies went on until 1948 and the records suggest that, despite intentions, not everyone was probably cured," she said in a statement.
Her findings, to be published in January in the Journal of Policy History, link the Tuskegee and Guatemalan studies.
"In 1946-48, Dr. John C. Cutler, a Public Health Service physician who would later be part of the Syphilis Study in Alabama in the 1960s and continue to defend it two decades after it ended in the 1990s, was running a syphilis inoculation project in Guatemala, co-sponsored by the PHS, the National Institutes of Health, the Pan American Health Sanitary Bureau (now the Pan American Health Organization) and the Guatemalan government," she wrote.
"It was the early days of penicillin and the PHS was deeply interested in whether penicillin could be used to prevent, not just cure, early syphilis infection, whether better blood tests for the disease could be established, what dosages of penicillin actually cured infection and to understand the process of reinfection after cures."
The full paper is available here%20Reverby%20'Normal%20Exposure'.pdf
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said regulation prohibited such "risky and unethical" research today. He said the revelations could damage efforts to attract volunteers to take part in medical research today.
"I think the track record in past 20-30 years has been quite remarkable," Collins told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"But we all recognize that the Tuskegee study, which involved this same Dr. Cutler, did great damage to the trust ... particularly from the African-American community and for medical research."
Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said it was not yet clear whether any compensation would be offered. It was also not clear whether any of the people who were experimented upon could be traced, but he said an investigation had been launched.
Collins said there were no records of the study at NIH other than the title of the original grant.Cutler retired as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh in 1985 and died in 2003.
(Additional reporting by Sarah Grainger in Guatemala; Editing by Anthony Boadle and Todd Eastham)
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Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya - Don’t foul up probe
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/9/15/nation/7037632&sec=nation
Wednesday September 15, 2010
Don’t foul up probe
Star says
THE gruesome killing of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya, her driver, lawyer and financial adviser has all the makings of a chilling blockbuster. It is indeed murder most foul.
While police investigations are making good progress and key suspects have been arrested, the script is still a work in progress.
It is important, therefore, for us to take stock of what has been revealed so far and what needs to be looked at further. Let us be clear that at the end of the day, it is not about how the story is played out in the media or how conclusions are formed in the court of public opinion.
No, it is about how evidence is carefully gathered, how every lead is pursued and how every motive is examined. It is about building up a solid case that will stand up in a court of law to ensure justice for all.
This is a case that has generated not only local interest but gained international attention because of the gory details that have emerged – that the four were bludgeoned to death, their bodies burnt at a poultry farm and their remains tossed into a river.
It is imperative that our police, specifically the forensic teams, are at their most professional and competent level. There can be no lapse or bungling in police procedures that will lead to embarrassment or worse, no conviction later on.
The police should be commended for their work so far. They have spared no effort or resources in scouring for every available lead since the case broke. At the time the four were reported missing, the country was in a “slowdown” mode due to the school holidays and Hari Raya break.
But for the police, it was not a time to slow down, and they worked tirelessly, first in the hope that the missing four would be found alive. They needed the help of the public but there was also a thin line as to how much information should go public lest the lives of the missing four were compromised.
Now that the gruesome details have become public knowledge, it is just as critical that forensic evidence is not compromised in any way. People who hover at the crime scene must not hamper the work of the police and the police must also ensure they do not miss out even the slightest detail.
The public and the media, on their part, should also give the cops a chance to get this case properly investigated. People should come forward and offer any information that might possibly help in the investigations. It is not just physical evidence but even an overheard conversation involving any of the four could prove useful.
As the net widens, we learn that there is the chilling possibility that the fate of as many as another nine missing persons could be tied to the same prime suspects, including a businessman from Chennai, India.
There is a need for the top police brass to tackle the unhealthy speculation concerning the Banting police. In a way, this case has started the new IGP’s tenure with a big bang. It is a good opportunity for Tan Sri Ismail Omar to show the public that he is open, transparent and completely no-nonsense.
He has to seriously address the question of missing persons reports nationwide.
We do not need more lives to be brutally and senselessly lost
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Sun : The truth hurts
http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=50137
SPEAK UP! :: Comment & Analysis
The truth hurts
By Eric S. Margolis
WASHINGTON: The storm created by WikiLeaks’ release of 92,000 US military field reports from Afghanistan continues to rage in the nation’s capital. The massive leaks revealed the Afghan War’s ugly underbelly and deeply embarrassed Washington and its Nato allies.
The Obama administration is firing back, claiming release of these old reports from 2004-2009 endanger US military forces. That is the standard response to any ugly revelations about the Afghan war. The only thing the truth endangers are the politicians who have hung their hats on this war, and possibly, some paid Afghan informers.
The facts are shocking: wide-scale killing of civilians by US and Nato forces; torture of prisoners handed over to the communist-dominated Afghan secret police; death squads; endemic corruption and theft; double-dealing and demoralisation of Western occupation forces facing ever fiercer Taliban resistance.
Nearly all of this had been reported to varying degrees by the media and by this writer. The most interesting part of Wikigate is Pakistan’s supposed double-dealing in aiding the US-led war while maintaining secret links with Taliban and its allies.
The US government and media have been blasting Pakistan while downplaying the atrocities – and what WikiLeaks charges are "war crimes" – committed by Western forces.
Here’s the bottom line on Pakistan’s alleged double-dealing. After 9/11, the US threatened to "bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age" unless it turned against Taliban, the religious, anti-communist movement, and opened Pakistan to US military forces and intelligence operations. This was told to me by a former head of ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence service whose directors I have known since 1985.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf says his nation was forced to reluctantly give in to intense US pressure and abandon Taliban, which served as Pakistan’s proxy army in Afghanistan battling the still active Afghan Communist Party-Tajik Northern Alliance, also backed by Russia and Iran. Intensifying efforts by India to extend its influence into Afghanistan deeply worries Pakistan. Southern Afghanistan has long been Pakistan’s sphere of influence.
Pakistan was forced by the US to act against its own vital strategic interests. This column revealed that in 2007, Pakistan and India concluded the US and its reluctant allies would be defeated and driven from Afghanistan. Both old foes began implementing a proxy war to control strategic Afghanistan – Pakistan by backing its creation, Taliban, and India by supporting the Northern Alliance.
Accordingly, Pakistan was compelled to follow a dual-track policy: accepting semi-occupation by the US, US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion) annually from Washington, and paying lip service to the US-led war, while keeping open links to Taliban and other tribal militants. This was basic common sense. No one should have been surprised – particularly not Washington which has a long record of abandoning faithful allies.
Islamabad also had to worry about the dangers of a revival of Pashtun nationalism caused by the Afghan War that could threaten to tear Pakistan apart.
Washington and US media are heaping blame for the growing fiasco in Afghanistan on Gen. Hamid Gul, former director-general of the ISI. Gul led the anti-Soviet struggle in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was one of America’s most important allies. He has since become a fierce critic of the US-led war in Afghanistan. Gul warns that the US intends to break up Pakistan.
I knew Gul well. He is a Pakistani patriot at a time when so many Pakistani politicians and generals have been bought like bags of Basmati rice. Many of the false charges against Gul came from the communist-led Afghan secret police.
What Washington really wants is a totally obedient, obsequious Pakistan, not a real ally. But two nations’ interests must at times diverge. Trying to make Pakistan a satellite state will result in that vastly important, nuclear-armed nation one day exploding with anti-American hatred, as was the case in Iran in 1979.
The US-led war in Afghanistan is putting the two nations on a collision course.
In Washington, the US Congress just ignored the WikiLeaks scandal and voted an additional US$37 billion (RM118.4 billion) to fuel the Afghanistan War. Politicians are petrified to oppose this nine-year war lest they be accused of being anti-patriotic, the kiss of death in hyper-patriotic America where flag-wavers root for foreign wars so long as their kids don’t have to serve and they don’t have to pay taxes to finance them.
Eric S. Margolis is a contributing editor to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers, writing mainly about the Middle East and South Asia. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
Updated: 12:21PM Mon, 02 Aug 2010
SPEAK UP! :: Comment & Analysis
The truth hurts
By Eric S. Margolis
WASHINGTON: The storm created by WikiLeaks’ release of 92,000 US military field reports from Afghanistan continues to rage in the nation’s capital. The massive leaks revealed the Afghan War’s ugly underbelly and deeply embarrassed Washington and its Nato allies.
The Obama administration is firing back, claiming release of these old reports from 2004-2009 endanger US military forces. That is the standard response to any ugly revelations about the Afghan war. The only thing the truth endangers are the politicians who have hung their hats on this war, and possibly, some paid Afghan informers.
The facts are shocking: wide-scale killing of civilians by US and Nato forces; torture of prisoners handed over to the communist-dominated Afghan secret police; death squads; endemic corruption and theft; double-dealing and demoralisation of Western occupation forces facing ever fiercer Taliban resistance.
Nearly all of this had been reported to varying degrees by the media and by this writer. The most interesting part of Wikigate is Pakistan’s supposed double-dealing in aiding the US-led war while maintaining secret links with Taliban and its allies.
The US government and media have been blasting Pakistan while downplaying the atrocities – and what WikiLeaks charges are "war crimes" – committed by Western forces.
Here’s the bottom line on Pakistan’s alleged double-dealing. After 9/11, the US threatened to "bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age" unless it turned against Taliban, the religious, anti-communist movement, and opened Pakistan to US military forces and intelligence operations. This was told to me by a former head of ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence service whose directors I have known since 1985.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf says his nation was forced to reluctantly give in to intense US pressure and abandon Taliban, which served as Pakistan’s proxy army in Afghanistan battling the still active Afghan Communist Party-Tajik Northern Alliance, also backed by Russia and Iran. Intensifying efforts by India to extend its influence into Afghanistan deeply worries Pakistan. Southern Afghanistan has long been Pakistan’s sphere of influence.
Pakistan was forced by the US to act against its own vital strategic interests. This column revealed that in 2007, Pakistan and India concluded the US and its reluctant allies would be defeated and driven from Afghanistan. Both old foes began implementing a proxy war to control strategic Afghanistan – Pakistan by backing its creation, Taliban, and India by supporting the Northern Alliance.
Accordingly, Pakistan was compelled to follow a dual-track policy: accepting semi-occupation by the US, US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion) annually from Washington, and paying lip service to the US-led war, while keeping open links to Taliban and other tribal militants. This was basic common sense. No one should have been surprised – particularly not Washington which has a long record of abandoning faithful allies.
Islamabad also had to worry about the dangers of a revival of Pashtun nationalism caused by the Afghan War that could threaten to tear Pakistan apart.
Washington and US media are heaping blame for the growing fiasco in Afghanistan on Gen. Hamid Gul, former director-general of the ISI. Gul led the anti-Soviet struggle in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was one of America’s most important allies. He has since become a fierce critic of the US-led war in Afghanistan. Gul warns that the US intends to break up Pakistan.
I knew Gul well. He is a Pakistani patriot at a time when so many Pakistani politicians and generals have been bought like bags of Basmati rice. Many of the false charges against Gul came from the communist-led Afghan secret police.
What Washington really wants is a totally obedient, obsequious Pakistan, not a real ally. But two nations’ interests must at times diverge. Trying to make Pakistan a satellite state will result in that vastly important, nuclear-armed nation one day exploding with anti-American hatred, as was the case in Iran in 1979.
The US-led war in Afghanistan is putting the two nations on a collision course.
In Washington, the US Congress just ignored the WikiLeaks scandal and voted an additional US$37 billion (RM118.4 billion) to fuel the Afghanistan War. Politicians are petrified to oppose this nine-year war lest they be accused of being anti-patriotic, the kiss of death in hyper-patriotic America where flag-wavers root for foreign wars so long as their kids don’t have to serve and they don’t have to pay taxes to finance them.
Eric S. Margolis is a contributing editor to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers, writing mainly about the Middle East and South Asia. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
Updated: 12:21PM Mon, 02 Aug 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Malaysia – a foreign beggars’ haven
The Star online
Monday August 23, 2010
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia seems to have become a haven for foreign beggars who can reap up to RM8,000 a month from donations by kind locals, said MCA Public Services and Com plaints Department chief Datuk Michael Chong.
He said these beggars are believed to have entered the country with the aid of syndicates by abusing their social visit passes.
Besides begging at night markets or preying on customers at coffee shops, their tactics have taken a more desperate turn, with some seen pestering motorists waiting at traffic lights.
“I was driving through the traffic lights near the Employees’ Provident Fund building here when I saw an old woman going from one car to another in the queue, pleading for money.
A sore sight: A foreign beggar with a child in this picture taken in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
“However, I was pleased to note that most motorists did not give her any money,” said Chong, adding that the woman spoke Mandarin with a foreign accent.
He said although he had seen beggars resorting to such tactics overseas, this was relatively new in Malaysia.
Chong said last year, a foreign beggar had sought his help to recover RM30,000 allegedly owed to him by his “boss” for months of “work”.
He said such earnings were shared between the beggars and their syndicates, so the public should refrain from giving any money at all.
“The best method to tackle this problem is by refusing to give beggars money, leaving them with no choice but to return to their own country to earn an honest living,” he said
Monday August 23, 2010
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia seems to have become a haven for foreign beggars who can reap up to RM8,000 a month from donations by kind locals, said MCA Public Services and Com plaints Department chief Datuk Michael Chong.
He said these beggars are believed to have entered the country with the aid of syndicates by abusing their social visit passes.
Besides begging at night markets or preying on customers at coffee shops, their tactics have taken a more desperate turn, with some seen pestering motorists waiting at traffic lights.
“I was driving through the traffic lights near the Employees’ Provident Fund building here when I saw an old woman going from one car to another in the queue, pleading for money.
A sore sight: A foreign beggar with a child in this picture taken in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
“However, I was pleased to note that most motorists did not give her any money,” said Chong, adding that the woman spoke Mandarin with a foreign accent.
He said although he had seen beggars resorting to such tactics overseas, this was relatively new in Malaysia.
Chong said last year, a foreign beggar had sought his help to recover RM30,000 allegedly owed to him by his “boss” for months of “work”.
He said such earnings were shared between the beggars and their syndicates, so the public should refrain from giving any money at all.
“The best method to tackle this problem is by refusing to give beggars money, leaving them with no choice but to return to their own country to earn an honest living,” he said
Indonesian Consulate in fix over shock proposal
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=74202
Published on: Sunday, August 22, 2010
Kota Kinabalu: Over 100,000 dependents of Indonesian workers in Sabah may be affected if a new policy of not allowing foreign workers to bring in their dependents to Malaysia is enforced.
What has also complicated matters is that the Indonesian Government had already purchased a 3.95-acre site at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) in Sepanggar for RM2.58 million for the purpose of setting up a school several months ago.
In this respect, Indonesian Consul-General Soepeno Sahid said he could not comprehend why a drastic new policy was being pursued since the Malaysian Government had already given permission for Indonesia to purchase the land to enable building a permanent school for children of their workers in Sabah.
Soepeno said the wives and children of the workers are living with their respective husbands who are mostly working in oil palm plantations and construction sector in the State.
So far, the Consulate has yet to receive any official letter regarding the new policy as announced by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, recently.
"We are calling our fellow Indonesian workers in Sabah not to panic as the policy is still at a proposal stage. We will notify them of the latest developments and the next step to be carried out.
"Nonetheless, the Consulate will cooperate and abide by the laws and regulations set by the Malaysian Government if the new policy is implemented," he said.
Soepeno, who said this to Daily Express when contacted, Saturday, was commenting on the announcement by Hishammuddin on Aug. 18.
Hishammuddin had announced that foreign workers, especially Indonesians in Sabah, may no longer be allowed to bring over their wives and children to Malaysia and that those currently staying with their families as allowed under previous policies may also have to send them back.
He said the new policy was among 20 recommendations forwarded by the State Foreigners Management Laboratory that was submitted to the Sabah Cabinet on July 7.
Hishammuddin said passes for foreign workers' dependents would also no longer be renewed or issued to the dependents under the new policy.
The recommendations would also be discussed at the Cabinet Committee on the Management of Foreign Workers and Foreigners chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Indonesian Consulate here signed a Sale and Purchase agreement with KKIP to buy the land in April to construct new building for its Kinabalu Indonesia School (SIKK), which they are renting in Alamesra.
In fact, the number of pupils in SIKK has been rising from 271 pupils two years ago to 352 now.
"It would be a loss (purchasing the land) for the Indonesian Government if the new policy is enforced in Sabah. Not only that, we have sent 109 Indonesian teachers to educate our workers' children in all 115 learning centres set up by Borneo Child Aid Society or Humana in oil palm plantations in the East Coast of Sabah.
"These teachers are providing formal education to about 9,000 Indonesian children in the plantations as we do not want them to end up as school dropouts," Soepeno said.
He reiterated that several aspects need to be looked into if such new policy is to be implemented as it would not be easy to return home all the Indonesian dependents in Sabah.
"It is stated in the Sabah Labour Law that foreign workers, except expatriates and skilled workers, are not allowed to bring over their family members.
"We realise that most of our nationals working in Sabah are unskilled workers who are accompanied by their wives, children and other family members, and they have been here for many years.
I believe the history of these people also need to be looked into," Soepeno said.
Published on: Sunday, August 22, 2010
Kota Kinabalu: Over 100,000 dependents of Indonesian workers in Sabah may be affected if a new policy of not allowing foreign workers to bring in their dependents to Malaysia is enforced.
What has also complicated matters is that the Indonesian Government had already purchased a 3.95-acre site at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) in Sepanggar for RM2.58 million for the purpose of setting up a school several months ago.
In this respect, Indonesian Consul-General Soepeno Sahid said he could not comprehend why a drastic new policy was being pursued since the Malaysian Government had already given permission for Indonesia to purchase the land to enable building a permanent school for children of their workers in Sabah.
Soepeno said the wives and children of the workers are living with their respective husbands who are mostly working in oil palm plantations and construction sector in the State.
So far, the Consulate has yet to receive any official letter regarding the new policy as announced by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, recently.
"We are calling our fellow Indonesian workers in Sabah not to panic as the policy is still at a proposal stage. We will notify them of the latest developments and the next step to be carried out.
"Nonetheless, the Consulate will cooperate and abide by the laws and regulations set by the Malaysian Government if the new policy is implemented," he said.
Soepeno, who said this to Daily Express when contacted, Saturday, was commenting on the announcement by Hishammuddin on Aug. 18.
Hishammuddin had announced that foreign workers, especially Indonesians in Sabah, may no longer be allowed to bring over their wives and children to Malaysia and that those currently staying with their families as allowed under previous policies may also have to send them back.
He said the new policy was among 20 recommendations forwarded by the State Foreigners Management Laboratory that was submitted to the Sabah Cabinet on July 7.
Hishammuddin said passes for foreign workers' dependents would also no longer be renewed or issued to the dependents under the new policy.
The recommendations would also be discussed at the Cabinet Committee on the Management of Foreign Workers and Foreigners chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Indonesian Consulate here signed a Sale and Purchase agreement with KKIP to buy the land in April to construct new building for its Kinabalu Indonesia School (SIKK), which they are renting in Alamesra.
In fact, the number of pupils in SIKK has been rising from 271 pupils two years ago to 352 now.
"It would be a loss (purchasing the land) for the Indonesian Government if the new policy is enforced in Sabah. Not only that, we have sent 109 Indonesian teachers to educate our workers' children in all 115 learning centres set up by Borneo Child Aid Society or Humana in oil palm plantations in the East Coast of Sabah.
"These teachers are providing formal education to about 9,000 Indonesian children in the plantations as we do not want them to end up as school dropouts," Soepeno said.
He reiterated that several aspects need to be looked into if such new policy is to be implemented as it would not be easy to return home all the Indonesian dependents in Sabah.
"It is stated in the Sabah Labour Law that foreign workers, except expatriates and skilled workers, are not allowed to bring over their family members.
"We realise that most of our nationals working in Sabah are unskilled workers who are accompanied by their wives, children and other family members, and they have been here for many years.
I believe the history of these people also need to be looked into," Soepeno said.
Leptospirosis: Second death in Kedah
The Star Online
Published: Sunday August 22, 2010 MYT 6:54:00 PM
Leptospirosis: Second death in Kedah
By EMBUN MAJID
Three recreation areas - Puncak Janing, Bukit Wang and Lata Bayu - are closed to public
ALOR SETAR: A 17-year-old youth became the second victim of the leptospirosis (rat urine disease) disease in Kedah after visiting the Puncak Janing recreation area
The youth from Kampung Rambai in Bukit Raya, Pendang died on Saturday at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital.
Kedah Health Department director Dr Marzukhi Md Isa said Sunday that the youth had gone to Puncak Janing recreation area on July 16, with his four friends.
“The youth could have showed symptom of the disease a bit late because the disease can be detected between three days and three weeks,” he said.
He added that the department was also monitoring the health condition of the youth's four friends and they had been told to go the nearest hospital regularly.
It was reported on Aug 5, that one person had died due to the disease while two others were confirmed to have contracted it in Kedah.
Dr Marzukhi was reported as saying that the victim who died was in his 30s and was a Penang Health Department employee.
It was also reported that the two who confirmed contracted the disease were discharged after they were freed from the symptom.
Dr Marzukhi said that the state had closed the Puncak Janing recreation area following the death of the second victim and warned public not to visit the place.
“We have closed the main road to the recreation area but we learnt that they are other small roads leading to the recreation site.
“I hope that the public will take heed of the disease and avoid visiting the area,” he said.
Besided Puncak Janing two other recreation areas that were closed due to the disease are Bukit Wang recreation area and Lata Bayu recreation area.
Published: Sunday August 22, 2010 MYT 6:54:00 PM
Leptospirosis: Second death in Kedah
By EMBUN MAJID
Three recreation areas - Puncak Janing, Bukit Wang and Lata Bayu - are closed to public
ALOR SETAR: A 17-year-old youth became the second victim of the leptospirosis (rat urine disease) disease in Kedah after visiting the Puncak Janing recreation area
The youth from Kampung Rambai in Bukit Raya, Pendang died on Saturday at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital.
Kedah Health Department director Dr Marzukhi Md Isa said Sunday that the youth had gone to Puncak Janing recreation area on July 16, with his four friends.
“The youth could have showed symptom of the disease a bit late because the disease can be detected between three days and three weeks,” he said.
He added that the department was also monitoring the health condition of the youth's four friends and they had been told to go the nearest hospital regularly.
It was reported on Aug 5, that one person had died due to the disease while two others were confirmed to have contracted it in Kedah.
Dr Marzukhi was reported as saying that the victim who died was in his 30s and was a Penang Health Department employee.
It was also reported that the two who confirmed contracted the disease were discharged after they were freed from the symptom.
Dr Marzukhi said that the state had closed the Puncak Janing recreation area following the death of the second victim and warned public not to visit the place.
“We have closed the main road to the recreation area but we learnt that they are other small roads leading to the recreation site.
“I hope that the public will take heed of the disease and avoid visiting the area,” he said.
Besided Puncak Janing two other recreation areas that were closed due to the disease are Bukit Wang recreation area and Lata Bayu recreation area.
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