Jordanian Interior Minister Awad Khleifat on Thursday announced the launch of a prevention campaign against any outbreak of West Nile and Rift Valley fevers, which struck neighboring Israel and Saudi Arabia respectively.
Official Petra news agency, which carried the announcement also quoted Health Minister Tareq Suheimat as saying that Jordan was totally free of both killer diseases.
Khleifat told health and municipal officials the campaign would basically consist of spraying pesticides across the kingdom, particularly in areas rife with cattle, stagnant waters and around slaughterhouses, garbage dumps, farms and open sewers.
This would last at least a full week "starting immediately", during which meat imports, particularly live cattle, would be put under strict scrutiny, Petra said.
Thirteen Israelis have died so far from West Nile fever, a mosquito-borne disease which resembles malaria, causes influenza-like symptoms and leads to meningitis in more serious cases.
There is no known preventive medication against it and those most at risk are children under five, the elderly and those with a deficient immune system, in particular those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
A total of 161 people have been diagnosed with the disease over the past few weeks, mostly around the Tel Aviv area, and Israel has declared it an epidemic.
Meanwhile 17 people have died from the Rift Valley fever in Saudi Arabia and 47 others have been hospitalized since it was first reported in the kingdom on September 11 in Jizan province bordering Yemen.
At least 17 people have died of similar causes in Yemen.
Rift Valley fever affects domestic animals and can be transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Symptoms include hemorrhagic fever, encephalitis and eye problems, although human deaths are rare, according to experts -- AMMAN (AFP)
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