Health Officials Fear Disease After Tsunami
Megan Shannon - All Headline News Staff Writer Pangandaran, Indonesia (AHN) - Health officials fear that disease might spread after a tsunami hit the south coast of Java in Indonesia Monday. Thousands of people camped out five days after the disaster, which killed 700 people. Health officials say the heat and lack of clean water could threaten the health of those who survived. About 45,000 people were displaced when the tsunami struck the 185-mile coast of Java, Indonesia's most populated island. Several thousand people fled to hills above the beach town of Pangandaran and stayed there either because they had no home to return to or for fear of another tsunami. Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis center told Reuters, "The risk of catching diseases is there because they live in an open area with limited tents and water. There are reports of respiratory infections but that's not serious considering they live in the heat and in an open area." He said no reports of infectious diseases have come into the center but the crisis center has been administering measles, tetanus, and cholera shots to survivors since the disaster hit. Almost 300 people are still missing and 1,000 people were injured in addition to the 700 who were killed.
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