(ORDO NEWS) — Cases of a mysterious disease causing liver failure, fever and bleeding have been reported in northwestern Tanzania. At least five people have already died.
Last summer, a similar outbreak was recorded in Tanzania.
Authorities have sent a team of medical workers to diagnose a “strange” outbreak in the Kagera region in the country’s northwest, according to Tanzania’s health ministry. At present, its causes remain unclear.
Symptoms of the disease include fever, fatigue, headaches, and nosebleeds. In total, seven cases of infection have been registered – five people have died.
Residents of Kagera are asked to avoid contact with infected people and remain calm.
Similar incidents last year
In July 2022, 13 cases of a similar disease were reported in southern Tanzania in the Lindi region. As a result, three patients died.
Health officials then identified the outbreak as leptospirosis, or Weil-Vasiliev disease.
Leptospirosis is usually transmitted to humans through contact with the urine of animals such as cows, rats, pigs and dogs.
Symptoms of the disease include fever, muscle pain and spasms, redness of the eyes, loss of appetite, and, in advanced cases, yellowing of the skin and swelling of the extremities.
Patients are prescribed a course of antibiotics, and rehabilitation takes from several days to several months.
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