Delegation from Indonesia clarifies dysentry outbreak

A delegation from Indonesia, in conjunction with the Taipei Association of Travel Agents, yesterday held a press conference to clarify the recent dysentery outbreak in Bali and the outcome of subsequent health investigations conducted by health authorities on the island.

Between Nov. 7 and Nov. 24, a total of 111 Taiwanese tourists returning from Bali were diagnosed with shigella dysentery by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The outbreak has been traced to select Bali restaurants commonly visited by Taiwanese tourists.

I Gde Pitana, head of the Indonesian travel and hospitality industry delegation, said "This visit is to show that we are serious about handling the situation. We hope to bring about better cooperation between our governments," Pitana said.

However, according to deputy director of the CDC, Lin Ding (林頂), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had only informed him of the visit late on Wednesday night.

The Indonesian delegates had failed to inform the center of the press conference until less than an hour before it took place, which was too late for the center to send a representative to the press conference.

Furthermore, while the center had identified the outbreak to be shigella dysentery, the Indonesian delegation did not immediately report finding shigella germs in its samples.

The press release prepared by the Indonesian delegates only reported finding coli pathogens.

According to Made Molin Yudiasa, head of the Bali Department of Health, of the 200 rectal samples taken, eight samples tested positive for coli pathogens. Forty-two water samples had yielded four positive coli samples.

More than 120 food samples revealed no coli pathogens. Only after questions by the press did Yudiasa admit that shigella germs had also been found.

Yudiasa admitted that the Dirty Duck and the Golden Palace, two restaurants named by Taiwanese health authorities as possible sources of the outbreak, were now identified as not meeting hygiene standards.

"We have to trust our own lab results. They [Taiwanese authorities] haven't presented any hard evidence for their findings. Furthermore, we know that the germs that caused these cases of dysentery are not indigenous to Taiwan," Lin said.

However, Yudiasa said that the discrepancy in the findings was a result of different samples being tested.

While Taiwan had taken samples from returning tourists, the Bali health department had taken samples from local residents and restaurants.

At the center of the issue is the problem of falling tourism figures. Yao Ta-guang (姚大光), deputy director of the Taipei Association of Travel Agents, said that tourist numbers from Taiwan to Bali were down 60 percent from before the outbreak.

Lin admitted that the impact health warnings had on the travel industry was one possible reason for the unexpected press conference.