Cameroonian authorities said cross-border movement restrictions were imposed due to the “high risk of importation” of the unspecified disease.
Public Health Minister Malachie Manaouda said Cameroon had restricted movement along its border with Equatorial Guinea after “several unexplained deaths” from an unspecified disease that causes dengue fever.
He said in a statement that the restrictions were imposed due to “the high risk of transmission of the disease and to detect and respond to any cases at an early stage”.
Investigations are underway and epidemiological surveillance has been enhanced with the support of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“At the current stage… there is no reason to worry,” Malachie said.
Equatorial Guinea said in a statement on Wednesday that it had noted an “unusual epidemiological situation” in the past weeks in Nsok Nsomo district, Kie-Ntem province, which resulted in nine deaths in two contiguous communities. adjacent for a short period of time.
A crisis committee set up by the health ministry reported a tenth death on Thursday.
The observed symptoms were fever, weakness, vomiting blood and diarrhea. A team was sent to isolate the contacts and take samples that were sent to a WHO laboratory in the region for testing. A woman and her two children were taken to hospital, where they recovered after receiving mild treatment, the statement added.
A WHO spokesperson said the agency was assisting with testing samples to determine the cause of death and the results would be available in the coming days.
Cameroon said about 20 deaths were recorded Wednesday in villages in Equatorial Guinea’s Kie-Ntem province, which borders Cameroon’s Olamze district.
The head of the district health agency Ngu Fankam Roland said the symptoms of the “unknown illness” were nosebleeds, fever, joint pain and other illnesses that caused the victim to die within hours.
He told Reuters on Friday that so far no cases have been detected or suspected in Cameroon.
