Date: Sun 14 Jan 2001 17:58:57 -0800
From: Rick Henika <zowie5@mac.com>
Source: Agence France-Presse, Sun 14 Jan 2001 12:52 a.m. EST [edited]
<http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500299502-500478250-5032699
52-0,00.html>
Rift Valley Fever Has Now Claimed 227 Lives in Saudi Arabia & Yemen
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RIYADH: The death toll in Saudi Arabia from the outbreak of Rift Valley
fever, which surfaced in the Arabian peninsula in Sept 2000, has risen to
118, Saudi Arabian health officials reported on Sat 13 Jan 2001.
In a statement carried by the SPA news agency, the Ministry stated that:
"118 people had died of Rift Valley fever up to Thu 11 Jan 2001, and 855
people in all have contracted the disease, of whom 730 have left hospital
after treatment."
In neighboring Yemen, Rift Valley fever has claimed the lives of 109
people, according to the last health ministry bulletin at the end of October.
[As previously reported in the ProMED-mail posting "Rift Valley fever -
Saudi Arabia (02),"] Health Ministers from the 6-nation Gulf Cooperation
Council Meeting in Kuwait on Wed 10 Jan 2001 praised Saudi efforts to
control the fever and urged the 5 other member states to take all precautions.
The symptoms of Rift Valley Fever include hemorrhagic fever, encephalitis
and eye problems, although human deaths are supposed to be rare, according
to experts. The virus is usually contracted from mosquitoes, or by contact
with the blood, bodily fluids or organs of infected animals.
--
Rick Henika
<zowie5@mac.com>
[The total number of cases and the number of patients released from
hospital in Saudi Arabia remains unchanged since the last report received
on Fri 12 Jan 2001. No recent statistics are available regarding the
present status outbreak i
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail, a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org