Malaysia : Mysterious deaths’ due to two diseases

Article via Free Malaysia Today, excerpt :

" KUCHING: After months of silence, the Sarawak Health Department has finally admitted that the ‘mysterious deaths’ of ‘some’ of the 10 people working in the Bakun dam area was due to fatal diseases known as melioidosis and leptospirosis.

Sarawak Medical Services director Dr Zulkifli Jantan said not all of those dead were from the Bakun dam.

Responding to an FMT news report, he said the10 fatalities were actually the total number of people who died from melioidosis and leptospirosis from January to July 23 in the state.

“The 10 persons are not exclusively from the Bakun area.

“The deaths were also from Kuching, Limbang, Betong, Tatau, Belaga, Kapit and Sri Aman.

“Apart from the deaths reported in Bakun area, one fatal case was reported in Kuching, Sri Aman, Betong and Limbang during the same period.

“To date, two clusters have been reported on melioidosis namely in Bakun hydroelectric project (Belaga) and the second was in Iron Wall logging camp in Kapit,” said Zulkifli in a statement.

But the statement did not clarify if the ‘few’ who died from the diseases were those who worked in the Bakun area.

Thousands of workers from all over the state have been working in the Bakun project."