HODEIDA — Dengue fever has been spreading among the poorest social classes in Hodeida and Harad located on the western coasts of Yemen.

When dengue fever had spread in the Central Prison, it caused dozens of patients. Then, it swept the African refugee camp in Harad of Hajja governorate.

The symptoms of Dengue Fever are sudden fever and severe cramps in the muscles. These symptoms appear within five-eight days after an infected mosquito bite.  After four-seven days a rash starts to appear causing itching all over the body.

 Dr. Mohammed Al- Kamali, a specialist in general surgery, said that most of the time the symptoms of dengue fever are paleness, lost appetite and occasional bleeding from the mouth ,nose , intestines and skin. Rarely, anemia can occur.

The judge Salah Ishaq, a community leader in Hodeida attributes the spread of dengue fever inside the Central Prison in Hodeida city to the deteriorating situations inside the prison

Ishaq further said that, this epidemic can quickly spread among villages using rain water as it’s susceptible to contamination and isn’t treated.  

Security sources in the Central Prison in Hodeida mentioned that, the number of patients range from 50 to 70 people. T

 Ishaq claimed that the number of patients exceeds 100 persons and the number is expected to increase, particularly in absence of proper health care and slow response from officials. 

The Central Prison Administration in Hodeida warned the Public Health office and the military hospital in the governorate last week against the spread of disease among inmates of the prison.

 The administration strongly urged the officials to quickly provide proper medical services and needed medicines in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis inside the prison.

A newly released medical report by the Ministry of health revealed that two persons died of dengue fever in the African Refugee Camp in Harad.

The report said that 71 percent out of 115 cases were found to be infected. These cases were Ethiopians living in a camp run by the International Migration Organization which holds 3,000 Ethiopians.

29 percent of the patients are spread throughout different areas in Harad directorate, where the internal displacement camps exist.

The report which is done by the medical team headed by DR. Ali Bin Buriak , assistant of the National Coordinator for t Paralysis Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, said that four cases  have been tested with dengue fever and medical tests showed three cases suffer unknown fever out of ten patients. The cases were diagnosed at the National Center of the Public Health Laboratories.

The report also mentioned that 94 percent of the dengue fever patients are males while six percent are females, the report therefore concludes that 98 percent of infected Ethiopians are male

The report recommends implementing  health campaigns to provide human resources , preventative medicines against the viral fever , to raise the awareness among  doctors and health workers regarding recording the cases and reporting them .

The report recommends using pesticides to eradicate mosquitoes from houses and important protection against the virus.

The directorate classified as the second most populated directorate in Hajja with 100, 000 people in Harad, situated north-east t Hajja governorate.

Harad is considered the north-western gate of Yemen with Saudi Arabia. It is only eight kilometers away from the Saudi southern border and the city is one of the most important customs point for Yemen.