‘Serawan’ deaths probe begins

IPOH: The state health authorities have sent a medical team to Kampung Sungai Kejar Orang Asli settlement in Hulu Perak district to investigate the death of children from the Jahai tribe said to be caused by a mysterious illness.
State Health Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said medical personnel hope to establish the cause of death and provide the necessary treatment.
"We are in the dark over the situation and the information we have is only based on that given by the villagers to a newspaper which published the article today (Tuesday)," he told reporters here on Tuesday.
Another team comprising medical personnel and Orang Asli Affairs department officers headed by Dr Mah would visit the village tomorrow.
He was commenting on a news article that a mysterious illness was killing Orang Asli children from the tribe in the Sungai Kejar area of Perak's Royal Belum State Park and the authorities were either unaware of it or believe that the Orang Asli were not reporting the deaths.
The tribe called the disease serawan. It starts with white spots in the children's mouths and kills them within days after symptoms surface.
The last reported death was three weeks ago but it is not known whether serawan was the cause.
Serawan is associated with malnutrition which normally affects babies.
"To overcome this one should practice oral hygiene on the infants after breastfeeding." he said, adding that serawan was not fatal.
Initially all the 420 people were staying in one settlement but some of them moved out and formed Kampung Bunga Hilir, Kampung Sungai Kejar One and Two.
According to him, the authorities faced several obstacles visiting the Orang Asli settlements to provide assistance especially in Kampung Bunga Hilir where the deaths occurred.
"One outstanding problem is the community will reject our medical treatment if they have been treated traditionally for any ailment," he added.
Another setback is the poor response to the food basket programme where food is given to overcome malnutrition.
Dr Mah said the health authorities also started the community feeding in 2010.
The project involved cooking of food for the community.
Apart from these programmes the health department's mobile clinic would visit the villages to offer medical services and treatment every month.