According to local media, 21 people have died from a “mysterious disease” in Afghanistan.
All cases were recorded in the mountainous region of Wakhan in the northeast of the country, which borders Tajikistan and Pakistan.
Health chiefs have now been sent to the area to investigate the nature of the disease.
The cases were all reported in the mountainous district of Wakhan, 370 kilometers northeast of the Afghan capital Kabul.
Health officials have expressed concern that the “mysterious” respiratory illness has similarities to Covid-19
Details about what the actual disease is are scarce.
But the Afghanistan Times reported that officials described it as “very similar” to Covid.
Covid itself, a type of coronavirus, was behind a mysterious outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan three years ago.
The first deaths occurred two weeks ago, the Afghanistan Times claimed.
Kyrgyzstan, which does not border Afghanistan, sent a representative to the region over fears of further proliferation.
Wakhan is a sparsely populated, narrow strip of land that encloses the Pamir Mountains.
Afghanistan has recently been hit by outbreaks of cholera and polio.
British health chiefs are also monitoring cases of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, a viral disease transmitted mainly by ticks which can be fatal in 40 per cent of cases.
Wakhan is a sparsely populated, narrow strip of land that encloses the Pamir Mountains. Pictured above, wheat fields in the Wakhan Valley
At least 50 children have died of respiratory diseases in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan in just one month, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar news agency reported last week.
Baghlan Hospital officials confirmed that 1,000 children in the province contracted respiratory illnesses in the past month, according to the agency.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which supports 33 hospitals across Afghanistan, also announced in November that the number of children treated for pneumonia would increase by more than 50 percent by 2022 compared to the same point last year.
Data shared by the ICRC with The Independent earlier this month also showed that the number of pneumonia cases in the country rose by 35 percent in a year, to 213,049 in 2022.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
