Believers attend Sunday mass without wearing masks and social distancing at Ufunuo na Uzima Church in Dar es Salaam on Feb. 7, 2021. For more than six months, Tanzania has tried to convince the world it has been cured of the coronavirus through prayer.
A mystery illness that causes people to vomit blood has killed 15 people in Tanzania and hospitalized more than 50 others.
The New York Post reported that the illness killed its mostly male patients within hours of them developing symptoms. The illness is being reported in the southern Mbeya region of the country, according to the U.K. Sun.
Expert medical teams have been deployed to the area to try to uncover the cause of the outbreak. Tanzania borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where just last summer the second largest Ebola outbreak on record was finally declared over, after two years.
Ebola is one of a handful of hemorrhagic fevers that are a cause for concern in the region.
The outbreak in Tanzania has already created political fallout.
Felista Kisandu, Chief Medical Officer of the rural Chunya District in Mbeya, said the problem has not been widespread, taking place in a single administrative ward. She also said samples of local water and patients’ blood are being tested by the government for traces of mercury contamination.
“Initial clinical examinations revealed the patients, mostly men, suffered from stomach ulcers and liver disease,” she said.
“We have advised them to avoid drinking illicit brew, smoking cigarettes and other hard drinks.”
After her statements, Kisandu was suspended from her job by the Tanzania Health Minister Dorothy Gwajika.
Gwajika stated that Dr. Kisandu’s remarks created unnecessary panic among the local people. After ordering her suspension, Gwajika said the Medical Council would investigate the situation and report back to her within 10 days.
Symptoms of high fever, nausea and vomiting blood were also reported from this region two years ago, although nothing conclusive was ever announced. Health Minister Gwajika promised updates on the current situation.
In early January, Tanzanian President John Magufuli claimed that COVID had been stopped in Tanzania due to the power of prayer.
His statement came several months after his government put an end to publicly reporting and updating COVID numbers.
Comments
Post a Comment