1,100 affected as skin disease spreads in Bajaur

KHAR: Leishmaniasis has turned into an epidemic in Salarzai tehsil in Bajaur Agency as 1,100 people have been reportedly affected by the disease.
Tribespeople in Salarzai tehsil told The News that 1,100 persons in Kohi, Darra and Taly areas had been affected by leishmaniasis after they had been bitten by sandfly. They said the Health Department had distributed 90 mosquito nets in the area. The residents said no medicines were provided to the affected people. They feared that the disease could spread.
When contacted, officials of the Health Department told The News that some labourers from Bajaur Agency who are working in Karachi and Hyderabad had contracted the disease there were responsible for the spread in their native areas. They said that free diagnosis services and medicines were being provided. Assistant Political Agent Suhail said that health teams had been dispatched.