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Unknown disease kills 104 people in Yemen

SANAA, March 6 (KUNA) -- A mysterious disease has claimed the lives of 104 people in the Yemeni western province of Al-Hadida, a health official said here Sunday.
The disease kills people in just two days, and its symptoms include acute bleeding, rapid kidney failure and a significant rise of temperature, followed by a quick coma and sudden death, Director of the Yemeni doctors and pharmacists guild, Najib Malhi said in a statement.
Until this moment, doctors in the country cannot diagnose the illness, of symptoms that differ from the locally-common Dengue fever, caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
The Yemeni cabinet, two weeks ago, announced Al-Hadida, "a province infected with a strange disease," tasking the health minister with the role of increasing locate to explore its cause and remedy.
Medical equipment and supplies in the province have also been doubled as a result, the Health Minister Abdulkarim Rasa was quoted as saying last week.
Anti-mosquito task forces have also been formed and are carrying out a wide-scale spray of insecticide across the country's provinces as a precautionary measure. (end) az.sd KUNA 062222 Mar 11NNNN