1

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SNAA-7VS7WN?OpenDocument 

Restrictions to contain PNG outbreak 

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) 

Date: 11 Sep 2009 

 
Health authorities in Papua New Guinea have imposed a ban on the sale of cooked food 
in public areas in an effort to contain an outbreak of cholera, dysentery and influenza.  

The outbreak has left 97 people dead in the remote Menyamya and Tewai-Siassi Districts 
of Morobe province in the last month.  

Cholera and dysentery are reportedly spreading to the neighbouring provinces of Eastern 
Highlands and Gulf.  

The authorities in Eastern Highlands have imposed a ban on the sale of cooked food 
along the highway that links the region with Morobe province.  

They say cholera and dysentery are easily transmitted through contaminated food and 
water.  

The PNG government has declared a public health emergency, which empowers health 
inspectors to close unhealthy facilities, including restaurants and contaminated water 
sources. © ABC