BAGHDAD (Xinhua) – Iraq has so far registered up to 162 cases of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) since the first infection was confirmed in April in Iraq, among which, 27 people died, the Ministry of Health said Saturday.
The ministry’s spokesman Sayf al-Badr said Iraq has seen an apparent increase in the viral infectious disease, with a latest death recorded in the city of Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, calling on the media to raise public awareness.
“Half of the cases of the disease made a full recovery,” al-Badr noted.
The first VHF case was detected in Dhi Qar in April, and later more were discovered in several other provinces, he added.
The VHFs are a group of diseases caused by different viruses, including Ebola, which affects multiple organ systems in the body and may cause fever and bleeding.
The Iraqi Health Ministry has not revealed which virus has caused the recent cases.