101 confirmed cases of Dengue fever in Egypt: Health Min.

CAIRO – 19 October 2017: A total of 101 people are confirmed to suffer from Dengue fever in Egypt as was shown by PCR test results, stated Dalal Mounir, head of the Central Department of Laboratories at the Health Ministry during a press conference in Cairo Thursday.

Mounir noted that complaints of Dengue fever came only from el-Quseir and Safaga, cities south of Egypt located on the coast of the Red Sea; adding that the Ministry of Health had not received any complaints from other governorates.

She stressed that Egypt is safe and that there is no outbreak of the epidemic; pointing out that the ministry scanned the entire governorate for the virus.

The PCR test, which detects Dengue fever, costs LE 200 ($11.33) per person and takes up to 48 hours for the test results to come out, said Mounir.

Khalid Mujahid, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said that there are no reported deaths that have resulted from Dengue fever.

Earlier this month, following the outbreak of Dengue fever in the Red Sea governorate, Minister of Health Ahmed Emad stressed that Dengue fever is not deadly or contagious.

Aedes aegypti mosquito is a main vector that transmits viruses causing dengue, according to the report released by the World Health Organization (WHO). The viruses are passed onto humans through the bites of an infectious female Aedes mosquito, which mainly acquires the virus while feeding on the blood of another infected person.

The symptoms of the disease include sudden high fever, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, severe joint and muscle pain, as well as a skin rash.