Egypt: Reports of deaths due to unidentified illness(es?) - possibly "intestinal flu" some diagnosed with dengue - October 7+

[sharon sanders]

Altercations between patients suspected of contracting typhoid and hospital workers Dirout
Wednesday, October 7, 2015 - 16:54

Imad Ahmed, Minister of Health and Population Assiut victims a favor and Haitham al-Badri Signed since few altercations my parents from the village of Dashlout and Abu Karim, and between workers Fever Hospital Dirout, and that following the rejection of hospital staff take them under the pretext of recovery from symptoms suspected of disease typhoid of high temperature and Ahazzlan after receiving treatment. He said one of the patients they were receiving treated at the hospital yesterday and were surprised that the hospital wrote them mass exodus, and went on: We tried to convince them that we are still in need of treatment at the hospital told us that our treatment is over and we are not in need of treatment. He said Mr. guarded one of the patients: intensified We disease since yesterday and Aaodna again today and our number 35 patient we all suffer from the same disease and we know that the hospital staff had Bajarajna yesterday because the agent Directorate was on a visit to the hospital yesterday afternoon to see the reality wounding a number of people of the village Dashlout typhoid and if it finds the hospital free of detainees by patients while ago and we came back today booked again but the hospital refused to receive us. In a related context, Atef Rizk lawyer and human rights activist and a resident of the village of Dashlout that the agent Health Directorate and the acting Dr Ahmed Anwar, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health was on a visit yesterday to hospitals Dirout and health care units and already we learned yesterday that hospitals sought out patients before completing treatment Although the number of patients detainees in hospital of only village Dashlout was exceed the 35 patients. He said Rizk that the disease has become endemic in most of the villages Dirout and not a village Dashlout alone and in every time health graduated denies the spread of the epidemic The result is the increasing incidence and spread of the epidemic more

http://www.youm7.com/story/2015/10/7/%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B6%D9%89-%D9%8A%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%89-%D8%A5%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%81%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B4%D9%81%D9%89-%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88/2377119#.VhZxh8tViko

[Gert van der Hoek]

Third fatality from Assiut mystery virus


A woman died in the Dashlout village of Assiut from the same mysterious virus that killed two others two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department is in Assiut to examine 62 cases in the village and two other neighboring villages suffering from the same symptoms.

The woman’s brother, Ali Fathy, said she had a fever. “The doctor gave her antibiotics, but they did not work,” he said, adding that the virus is spreading quickly in the village.

Dr. Mostafa al-Bakry, director of the Dairout Fever Hospital, said a large number of patients were admitted in the last two months from Dashlout and other villages suffering from the same symptoms.

“It is not typhoid,” he said. “It is similar to the influenza virus, but stays in the body longer.”


Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

[alert]

Published Date: 2015-10-13 23:49:13
Subject: PRO/EDR> Undiagnosed illness - Egypt: (AT) fatal, RFI
Archive Number: 20151013.3712606
UNDIAGNOSED ILLNESS - EGYPT: (ASYUT) FATAL, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
************************************************** *****************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Fri 9 Oct 2015
Source: StepFeed [edited]
https://stepfeed.com/more-categories...irus-outbreak/


There is growing concern in the rural Egyptian city of Asiuit [Asyut, Asyut governorate] over an outbreak that has claimed the lives of 21 people while 2000 remain infected. Local doctors have warned that the infection could spread further, however, the Egyptian Health Ministry has yet to make an official statement addressing the concerns.

Civilians in Dashalout, Nagh Khedr, Sao, Boueit and Abu Karim, along with Abu Al Eiyoon villages said that the people with tuberculosis and the typhoid fever are on the streets, causing more and more people to get infected. There have also been claims that hazardous medical waste such as used syringes, used IV fluids and cannulas have not been properly disposed of.

Despite their growing concerns over this disease that is strongly threatening their lives, doctors in the area have very little to do with the ministry's intervention. Therefore, residents of these villages took matters into their own hands, creating a Facebook page and posting pictures of patients while they were undergoing treatment to spread awareness regarding their unfortunate circumstances.

While residents in the infected villages believe the disease is either typhoid fever or tuberculosis, doctors, on the other hand, remain unsure. "We know nothing about this disease, absolutely nothing. It's like the recent bird flu; when it 1st started, no one knew anything, but now we do and we know how to treat it," one doctor said to El Balad news. "We know nothing about this disease and it's spreading quickly."

Nevertheless, health officials in the Asiut are stating that the "rise of temperature" is causing people to get sick and have not yet launched an official investigation to determine the cause of the sudden and widespread illness.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail


[There is little information to help make a diagnosis here. Tuberculosis does not generally cause "sudden and widespread" outbreaks, but infections that are waterborne such as typhoid and airborne infections such as influenza need consideration. Besides fever, there is little given here to speculate further. ProMED-mail would appreciate more information from knowledgeable sources. - Mod.LL

[sharon sanders]

Something happened to the format of the below posts when I merged 3 threads. Luckily I still had the window open to the original thread and I have made a copy for this post:


hat tip Pathfinder:


October 14th, 2015, 11:09 AM





Health ministry tests water in Assiut following fever outbreak

Doctor says Assiut hospital is not equipped for the high number of fever patients

Daily News Egypt 2 hours ago
By Engy Adham

Sixty-two patients who have been suffering from fever and nausea have not received a medical explanation for their cases at Assiut Fevers Hospital. Tests run by the Ministry of Health and Population showed that drinking water in the Dirout area in Assiut meets the safety standards.
...
Medical lab technicians and experts at Ministry of Health laboratories in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing have tested water samples on 8 October to evaluate water sanitation and hygiene, after 62 patients were recorded as suffering from fever. Forty patients were released from hospital and there were no reported deaths.
...
Mohamed Kandil, a doctor at Assiut Fevers Hospital, told Daily News Egypt that the hospital is not equipped with enough beds to receive so many patients. Kandil added: ?Assiut Fevers Hospital houses around 320 beds in total, which is enough at the moment for the cases from Dirout villages. But whenever we receive a bigger number of patients, we communicate with the ministry of health to secure more beds.?
...

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/1...ever-outbreak/

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• Pathfinder
  Editor, Senior Moderator
  

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  #4
  October 14th, 2015, 06:57 PM
  
  
  Translation Google
  
  "MYSTERIOUS FEVER" SWEEPING THE THREE VILLAGES IN UPPER EGYPT .. HEALTH DENIES THE FALL OF THE DEATHS SO FAR AND CLEARS DRINKING WATER
  
  Ahmed
  October 14, 2015Breaking News, News Egypt
  
  Health authorities have declared a state of emergency in Egypt in a number of villages in Assiut, south of the capital Cairo, after recording dozens of injuries satisfactory vague symptoms, remains a mystery to doctors so far, since the beginning of the monitored two weeks ago.
  
  After the majority of fingers pointing to "the lack of specification of drinking water matching", the Ministry of Health and Population confirmed, in a statement issued Tuesday, it received CNN Arabic copy of it, the innocence of the water from these pathological symptoms, to lend more uncertainty about the causes of the disease.
  
  The ministry said that the samples, which have been withdrawn from drinking water sources and water plants villages "Dashlout," and "Abu Karim," and "Nag Khadr", of the Center for "Dirout", in coordination with the Ministry of Housing, Utilities, confirmed the results of the analyzes "compliance with the specifications and safety 100 per cent. "
  
  The Ministry of Health to send a medical team, led by Minister of Preventive Medicine assistant, Dr. Amr Kandil, the Assiut Governorate since last Thursday, to assess the health situation in these villages, and follow-up inventory reserved cases in hospitals, and take the necessary preventive measures.
  
  While denied the Ministry of Health, in its statement, the fall of mortality as a result of infection with these mysterious symptoms, which are similar to "fever", has stated that it was recorded 62 cases have been booked hospital "Fever Dirout," villages "suspected", since the beginning of October / October this Until the beginning of the week.
  
  The statement pointed out that 40 cases left the hospital after recovery and improve their health, while still 22 reserved the hospital case under treatment, and described their condition as "stable", and confirmed the absence of deaths among cases that were repeated at the hospital or that have been isolated.
  
  According to the statement, the casualties include males and females in all age groups, with an increase in the phase between 10 and 45 years, and symptoms include fever rises during the night and less during the day, severe headache Unknown, with general weakness, and pain in the body especially the lower back, and vomiting and severe pain in the stomach.
  
  In addition, the transfer of the Egyptian TV site for governor of Assiut, Yasser ElDesoki, confirmed not to fall and mortality as a result of these symptoms, stressing that the deaths recorded in the three villages, "as a result of other natural causes, according to the assurances of the medical team and records of the Health Bureau," he says.
  
  http://www.elrdar.com/2015/10/14/%D8...%D8%A9-%D8%AA/
  

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• alert
  Senior Moderator
  

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  #5
  October 14th, 2015, 07:51 PM
  
  
  The last three articles have very different case counts than the ProMED post. 62 cases without a death is very different than 2000 cases with 21 deaths. I suspect the original reporters may have included all illnesses in the area (including TB and typhoid, mentioned in the article) to increase his counts to draw attention.
  
  The other three articles sounds like food poisoning or perhaps norovirus.
  

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  sharon sanders
• Editor-in-Chief & President
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  #6
• October 15th, 2015, 04:54 PM
  
  
  
  Possibly the intestinal flu?
  
  4 total deaths & 70 ill.
  
  
  
  Dr. Hamdi: the mysterious virus Assiut closer for "intestinal flu"
  0
  
  
  
  
  Influenza
  Investigation Section
  Thursday 10/15/2015 - 13:08
  
  
  
  
  Dr. Hamdi Al-Sayed, the former captain doctors, the disease is widespread in Assiut not Tevod it spreads in the summer and at least its effect in the fall and is likely to be an intestinal flu as a result of diffuse into the air and food pollution. Mr. He said in a statement to "Echo of the country,"
  
  The typhoid disease analysis Easy and very available in all Egyptian laboratory and its result show after only disease one day is a murderer. He added that viruses are very intelligent beings and a great deal of flexibility and tricks you can change the same molecular structure to get away from the influence of anti-drugs therefore each period show new types of viruses, but it ruled out the idea of mutated virus in cases in Assiut, pointing to the small number of cases and not to the rapid spread of the disease. As for prevention, he stressed on the food, water and cleaner neighborhoods and garbage disposal cleaner because they contribute to the spread of disease. The disease is not yet known spread in the villages of Dashlout and Nag vegetables and Sao and Buwayt and Abu Karim and Ezbet Abu eyes and other villages Dirout Center in Assiut in southern Egypt, led to the death of four cases and injured seventy others.
  
  http://www.el-balad.com/1746834

[sharon sanders]

Apparently some of the cases are confirmed as dengue:



Minister of Health: Mosquito behind the people of three villages injury Bderot dengue fever

Thursday, October 22, 2015 - 14:10 Dr. Imad Ahmed, Minister of Health and Population He wrote Walid Abdul Salam Dr. Ahmed Imad Minister of Health and Population confirmed that the number of people with fever in Dirout Center in Assiut reached 195 case, was entering the hospital and is still 39 cases were under treatment. The Minister of Health and Population through held now the ministry's press conference, he was pulled samples of patients were analyzed in Central to the ministry laboratories, and the result was that half of the plants attributed the causes of the disease in the injury of patients of dengue fever and a half other laboratories has shown that injuries fever because of the virus is not specified. The Minister of Health said he had been cleared of banks, canals and bridge the stagnant water places in the villages of Dirout Center in Assiut pointing out that the fever Dengue caused by the law of the law, called the name spam.

http://www.youm7.com/story/2015/10/22/%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%AD%D8%A9--%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%B6-%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A5%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-3-%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%A8%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B7-%D8%A8%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B6%D9%86%D9%83/2402156#.VitsOn6rTIV

[Pathfinder]

Health ministry aims to prevent dengue fever spread in Assiut

About 200 citizens were diagnosed with common fever symptoms

Daily News Egypt 1 hour ago

The ministry sent a medical convoy of 96 doctors after hospitals in Assiut received about 200 cases suffering the same symptoms, including a rise in body temperature, headache, and body pain.

Water and food samples were taken for examination at the ministry?s main medical laboratories; the results, however, conflicted regarding whether the symptoms were caused by a harmful virus or not. However, some results indicated the dengue virus as a possible cause for the symptoms, which is a virus transferred by insects, according to the health ministry?s statement.

Amr Kandil, the head of preventative medicine at the ministry, was quoted in the statement as calling on the residents in Assiut to get rid of all still water in the domestic water tanks, believing it could be helping more infectious insects spread.
...

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/10/24/health-ministry-aims-to-prevent-dengue-fever-spread-in-assiut/

[Pathfinder]

Dengue Fever – Egypt

Disease Outbreak News
12 November 2015

On 27 October 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of Egypt notified WHO of an outbreak of Dengue fever in a village in the Dayrout District of Assiut Governorate.

Between 1 and 31 October 2015, a total of 253 cases were admitted to the Dayrout Fever Hospital due to acute febrile illness. Patients developed fever, headache, general body aches and abdominal pain with occasional vomiting and/or diarrhea but experienced no further complications or fatalities. They have been responding to the given medical care. Some of the cases come from the same household.

Several samples including oropharyngeal swabs, blood and serum samples were collected. A total of 28 out of the 118 serum samples were positive for Dengue virus type I by ELISA and PCR at the Central Public Health Laboratories. For further confirmation, samples were sent to the Naval Medical Research Unit Three (NAMRU-3) laboratory and tested positive for Dengue virus type I by ELISA and PCR.

Public health response

A national team of experts comprising field epidemiologists, entomologists, sanitation and laboratory personnel visited the affected village to carry out the necessary investigations.

In response to the outbreak, the Ministry of Public Health has developed a case definition of the disease and widely disseminated it to physicians in the Daiyrout District. A training workshop was conducted for all health care workers to enhance their capacity for the early detection and prompt management of cases. Surveillance is ongoing in the surrounding villages and districts for early detection of cases.

Entomological surveillance revealed the presence of Aedes aegypti larvae and adult mosquito at the sites where cases are living; consequently, entomological control measures for dengue vector were immediately set up. So far, these measures have resulted in a dramatic decline in the density of adult mosquito (from 23% to 0%) and larvae (from 25% to 0.5%). Entomological surveillance and vector control measures continue to be implemented in the affected villages and its surrounding areas.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/12-november-2015-dengue/en/