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41 Die in Saudi and Yemen Due to Unusual Fever
At least 41 people have died in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Yemen from an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever, the Saudi Health Ministry and Yemeni officials said on Saturday.
Medical sources in Saudi Arabia, however, told reporters "up to 100 people" had died in the kingdom from the viral disease since it broke out nearly two weeks ago. A Yemeni newspaper said the number of dead in Yemen was also around 100.
Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates banned livestock imports from some African countries to prevent the spread of the disease, which is transmitted from infected animals to humans through contact or by mosquitoes.
The Saudi Press Agency quoted the Health Ministry as saying 24 people had officially died in the kingdom from the disease, 70 were in hospital and 19 had been released after hospital treatment.
Yemeni officials have reported 17 deaths in their country.
The Saudi sources, who declined to be named, said the disease might have already spread outside the affected southwestern province of Jizan, possibly through livestock that moved outside the area before health measures were imposed.
Saudi Arabia has shut schools in Jizan and required people leaving the area, near the border with Yemen, to undergo medical tests.
Yemen and Saudi Arabia have cooperated in spraying mosquito-infested areas along their common border but Saudi authorities said rain was making it more difficult for emergency teams trying to fight the disease.
Yemeni officials say Rift Valley Fever has wiped out nearly half the livestock in part of Hodeidah province.
GULF STATES IMPOSE BAN ON LIVESTOCK IMPORTS
Bahrain banned imports of cattle, camels, and goats or their meat from Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria and Djibouti, state media reported.
A Health Ministry official said Bahrain had not been infected by Rift Valley Fever, and farms and open areas would be sprayed with pesticides to kill mosquitoes.
Oman banned livestock imports from Yemen and several unnamed East African states, the official ONA news agency said.
A health ministry official told reporters that no cases of the disease had been reported in Oman but that authorities had been put on a state of alert.
The United Arab Emirates said it was stopping imports of meat and poultry from Yemen, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Nigeria.
The UAE, a regional re-export hub which imports an estimated US$2 billion worth of farm products per year, banned livestock imports from the eight African countries on Friday.
Qatar said it had not been affected but was stopping livestock imports from infected regions, state media reported. It did not say which regions would be covered by the ban.
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