Cambodia villagers angry over HIV outbreak

A student makes an AIDS red ribbon during a World AIDS Day event in Beijing, December 1, 2010. China has reported more than 68,000 AIDS-related deaths as of the end of October, up nearly 20,000 year on year, according to official figures released on November 29, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY)

A student makes an AIDS red ribbon during a World AIDS Day event in Beijing, December 1, 2010. China has reported more than 68,000 AIDS-related deaths as of the end of October, up nearly 20,000 year on year, according to official figures released on November 29, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY)

Published Dec 18, 2014

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Cambodia's prime minister has appealed to villagers in northwestern Cambodia not to lynch an unlicensed medical practitioner who they suspect caused more than 100 people to become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Health Ministry official Teng Kunthy said Thursday that 106 people out of more than 800 tested in Battambang's Roka village were found to have the virus.

A joint statement from the ministry and the World Health Organisation said some people who tested positive for the disease had earlier received care from the unlicensed medical practitioner. HIV spreads through the transmission of bodily fluids, such as through sexual contact or the reuse of contaminated syringes or needles.

A report in the Phnom Penh Post said the practitioner was taken into protective custody by police. - Sapa-AP

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