The Rift Valley Fever virus, which has hit the Arabian Peninsula since September 11, has left 113 dead in Saudi Arabia, the health ministry reported in the Saudi capital Sunday.
In a statement carried by the SPA news agency, the ministry said "113 people died of RVF up to the beginning of Sunday afternoon and 822 people in all have contracted the disease, of whom 691 have left hospital after treatment."
In neighboring Yemen the fever has claimed the lives of 109 people, according to the last health ministry bulletin at the end of October.
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 -- RIYADH (AFP)
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