Doctors Desperate for Cholera Medicine

Health officials in northeastern Cambodia made an urgent appeal for medicine to fight a cholera outbreak that has killed 61 people. Antibiotics and intravenous serum have been flown into Ratanakiri province from the capital, Phnom Penh, but provincial health advisor Dr. Gerry Pais said the supplies fall far short of the need. Nongovernmental organizations have been unable to provide enough assistance to meet the shortfall, he said. Cholera cases were first reported in the remote province last month and spread quickly. By Thursday, 861 cases had been diagnosed in 21 villages, and health officials fear there could be many more. “You might not hear anything at all from an area until the 10th person dies,” Pais said.