Flu-Like Illness Claims 150 Lives in Madagascar
A mysterious flu-like illness has killed more than 150 people in Madagascar in the last two weeks, the Health Ministry has reported.
The ministry said in a statement released Friday that it had sent a team of researchers to villages in the south of this Indian Ocean island to identify the disease, which causes a severe headache and chest pains.
According to the statement, 89 people have died in the village of Alakamisy Ambohimaha, 90 miles south of the capital, Antananarivo, in the last two weeks. An additional 64 people have died in Ikongo, 186 miles south of Antananarivo.
The Health Ministry said about 450 people had been diagnosed as suffering from the illness, and health officials fear that it could spread further.
Most of the people who died had been unable to reach a hospital or health center, or had relied on traditional herbal remedies that failed to cure them.
Madagascar is just emerging from six months of political crisis that devastated the already shaky economy.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
