Russia tightens rules on Egypt flights after unknown disease outbreak
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The Russian sanitary watchdog says dengue fever can only be contracted by the bite of an infected mosquito and cannot be contracted through direct contact with an infected individual.
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View of an EgyptAir Airbus A320neo aircraft on 20 June 2021 (AFP)
In Qena, a strange illness that causes fever and exhaustion has been linked to 67 cases, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population on Sunday.
"In light of the current situation, Rospotrebnadzor has tightened sanitary and quarantine controls with respect to flights from Egypt, including using the Perimeter automated information system," Russia’s sanitary watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said in a statement the Russian news agency TASS reported on Monday.
The Egyptian Health Ministry encouraged restraint, pointing out that all instances recorded in Qena had mild to moderate symptoms and that there had been no cases of serious illness or hospitalization as of yet.
Amr Qandil, assistant minister of health for preventive medicine affairs, says symptoms include body aches, fever, and, occasionally, vomiting and nausea.
In the Ministry's statements, it reaffirmed that teams from the epidemiological surveillance had been sent to look into the reports and had collected samples from the patients' environments as well.
Additionally, they practice both therapeutic and preventive medicine. The Egyptian officials also pointed out that these signs are typical of numerous illnesses, including fever, gastroenteritis, the common cold and influenza, and gastroenteritis that can spread because of high temperatures.
However, according to the media report, they can go away with rest, fever reducers, and by keeping yourself hydrated.
Rospotrebnadzor said the illness symptoms are similar to those of dengue fever and added that it is in touch with Egypt's government and international organizations to find out more about the illness.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that dengue fever is a vector-borne disease that is spread by infected mosquito bites and has the potential to be fatal in some cases.
Although rare, the condition is not unheard of in Egypt.
In the Red Sea governorate city of El-Qusair, hundreds of instances requiring hospitalization in 2017 were recorded.
The Russian sanitary watchdog also advised travelers to Egypt to take steps to prevent contracting parasitic and infectious diseases spread by insects, such as covering doors and windows with mosquito nets and wearing skin-protective clothes.
