EURASIA INSIGHT

MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS KILLS FIVE IN SOUTHEASTERN AFGHANISTAN
8/31/07
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL

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Five people died on August 28 and 20 others are comatose from an unknown disease that has broken out in the Warmami district of southeastern Paktika Province, Pajhwak Afghan News reported. Public-health officials and doctors are working to detect the cause of the mysterious illness, which exhibits symptoms similar to stomach viruses, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Paktika Governor Mohammad Akram Khepelwak said two children, two men, and a woman have died thus far from the illness. The local government has requested the local provincial reconstruction team to send in doctors and medicine, as the Warmami district lies 200 kilometers southeast of Kabul and lacks a reliable health clinic, he added. Dr. Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, confirmed the spread of the disease and said the ministry has arranged for medicine to be dispatched to the area with the assistance of NATO. JC

Posted August 31, 2007 © Eurasianet
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