Mystery disease claims lives in Saudi Arabia

DUBAI, United Arab Republic (Reuters) -- A mysterious kidney disease has killed up to 30 people in southwestern Saudi Arabia, prompting health authorities to instigate emergency measures, newspapers and officials said on Saturday.

The Saudi daily, Al-Eqtisadiah, put the death toll in the province of Jizan near the border with Yemen at 30. It also said a state of emergency had been declared although no official confirmation was immediately available.

The English-language Saudi Gazette said up to 15 people had died.

Health authorities have begun spraying mosquito-infested areas and have impounded a shipment of sheep from Somalia which may be infected.

Saudi Health Ministry officials confirmed that "some people have died from the disease," but declined to give any figures.

One official said "entire families" may have died from the disease, which he said was first discovered about 10 days ago.

The Saudi Gazette quoted Health Minister Osama bin Abdul-Majid Shobokshi as saying that the disease, which causes kidney failure, may have been transmitted by mosquitoes from infested areas in Jizan following recent heavy rains there.

It quoted the director of Jizan's King Fahd Hospital as saying that the first two cases were discovered last Thursday and that health specialists from other parts of the kingdom were rushed to Jizan after more cases were detected.

Experts said specimens had been sent for analysis in London, Washington and Riyadh, but results had yet to come back.

The paper quoted health officials as saying that symptoms of the disease resemble cases discovered in the Nile valley region. They include high fever, bloodshot eyes, burst arteries and renal failure.

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