At least 153 people have died in Madagascar in the past two weeks from a viral infection that has yet to identified by doctors, Health Minister Andry Rasamindrakotroka said on Thursday.
The announcement came one day after he said 62 people alone had died in the southeastern village of Ikongo, around 500 kiolmetres from the capital, Antananarivo.
He said 89 people had died in the Alakamisy Ambohimaha region, and that at least two more people had perished in Ikongo.
Rasamindrakotroka stressed that the figures were still coming in.
The virus that causes the illness has not yet been identified but sufferers complain of flu-like symptoms which begin with a severe headache.
The pain then spreads to the neck and chest and provokes a dry cough which, unless treated, results in death within two weeks.
Doctors specialising in contagious diseases and members of the Pasteur Institute of Madagascar are at work trying to determine the cause of the outbreak. – Sapa-AFP