A mysterious disease has killed at least 12 people in Bangladesh and made many more sick and health experts said Sunday they were sending samples to the United States for analysis.
Health authorities declined to comment on whether the sickness could be the bird flu that has broken out in several other parts of Asia, but a livestock official said there had been no reports of sick chickens.
Patients, most of them young boys, suffer from high fever, headache and vomiting before becoming unconscious. Some also suffered from diarrhea, doctors said. Three out of five patients admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital with the symptoms had died in the past three days, doctors said.
Health officials and newspapers said nine others had died of the disease since January 17. "We are worried by the sudden spread of the mysterious disease and so far have not been able to identify it," said another Dhaka Medical College Hospital doctor who declined to be identified.
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