About 30 persons died of dengue fever and 1200 are infected by this epidemic in the port governorate of Hodeida and no measures were taken to reduce the cases, local sources affirmed.
Locals of Hodeidah demanded to dismiss the Health Minister, accusing him of disregarding the epidemic and failure to take measures against the disease.
Meanwhile, medical teams tasked with following up the cases of the disease in Hodeidah warned that it will suspend its activities as they have not received their financial appropriations.
Media sources said officials of the health ministry fear cases will mount in the poorest neighborhoods of Hodeida given the poor sanitation and high level of malnutrition.
According to Yemen Fox, al-Thawra hospital in Hodeida had registered over 50 new cases in less than a week, affirming that about 10 cases were being reported per day since last Monday.
Medical sources have reported that dengue fever has swept through Hodeida Central Security Prison and an African refugee camp because of poor sanitation and diet, health officials said.
Symptoms of dengue fever, which is spread through mosquito bites, include sudden fever and severe muscle cramps.
The spread of dengue fever is attributed to the fertile environment for mosquito breeding, lack of early diagnosis systems, poor health awareness among citizens and poverty.
Dengue fever was first detected in Yemen in the early 1990s and there have been intermittent outbreaks over the years.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the potentially lethal form of the disease is known as dengue hemorrhagic fever, and causes convulsions, vomiting and bleeding.