Saudi Health Minister stated in an early convention that the Valley Fever
is one of the most serious epidemics that have faced Saudi Arabia during the
past decade, noting beside epidemics recorded in the history of Saudi Arabia
are very little because of the control that was applied early to reduce the
spread of infection, he also said that the ministry is currently developing a program
for automated monitoring infectious diseases, as well as keeping up with the
global epidemiological situation of various diseases, also he was asked about the end of the epidemiological situation for the valley fever
disease he said that the announcement of
the end of the epidemiological situation will be announced gradually
according to the places, as for the announcement for the whole state
will be if the 33 to 36 days passed without recording any injuries or deaths
from the disease.
He was also asked if they determined the
precise date of the first injury, he said that according to the available
information from the ministry, the first injuries happened in the Gazan area in
August 31st!
And about the disease being the most dangerous one in the history of KSA, he
said that it is the most dangerous ever and that because it is the first time
it happens outside Africa and also because the infection carriers are many;
mosquitoes, animals and humans, and they’re very hard to contain.
He also said that the General Administration
of parasitic and infectious diseases at the ministry and the departments of
infectious diseases in the departments of Health Affairs monitors infectious
diseases in order to apply all the needed control measures early, and the
Ministry is developing a program between the Departments of Statistics and
infectious diseases along with the relevant departments in the ministry in
addition to the center program to monitor infectious diseases in Saudi Arabia
and the global epidemiological situation of various diseases.
The disease can remain
for the next few years because the virus can lie in the eggs of certain types
of mosquitoes, which have the ability to survive in the soil for several years,
so it can create a generation of infected mosquitoes if the appropriate
environmental conditions were provided and thus can lead to the emergence of
the endemic disease again in the region after many years of the first epidemic.