The death toll from Rift Valley Fever in Saudi Arabia has risen to 38 since it was first reported on September 11 in the south of the kingdom, near the border with Yemen, reported AFP, quoting the Saudi health ministry.
"Five new deaths were registered in the southern Jizan region between Tuesday and Wednesday, taking to 38 the total number of people who have died from the virus," a ministry spokesman told the official SPA news agency.
"Some 176 people contaminated with the disease have been registered in Saudi Arabia, of whom 37 have already left hospital after receiving the necessary health care."
Meanwhile, Yemen's Health Minister Abdullah Abdel Wali Nasher said Wednesday that 31 people had died from the fever and 117 were infected in Yemen's Red Sea region of Hodeida, 225 kilometers (140 miles) west of Sanaa, said AFP.
According to Yemen's news agency (SABA), officials at Taiz governorate took a number of precautionary measures to confront any probability of the disease.
Governor of Taiz, Ahmed Abdullah Al-Hajri said Wednesday that an operation room had been set up for receiving any notification of the disease in any place, according to SABA.
Symptoms of the fever include haemorrhagic fever, encephalitis and eye problems, although human deaths from the disease are rare, according to experts.
Although it is possible to vaccinate animals against Rift Valley Fever, there is no vaccine for humans available on the market yet, said AFP - (Several Sources)
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