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| The ministry still has not identified the cause of the disease |
"We found no sign of infection, which means the condition is not caused by a virus or bacteria," said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long at a press briefing in Hanoi on May 14 after the ministry completed a fact-finding mission to the province's Ba To District – the hotspot of the disease.
"There was no evidence of a virus or bacteria in the tested water, air, soil or food samples. There is no proof that the disease is transmitted through the air, via a water source or between humans," he added.
Long also confirmed that the ministry still has not identified the cause of the disease, called inflammatory palhoplantar hyperkeratosis syndrome, which is characterised by thickened skin over the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. A majority of the patients also developed liver problems.
"We are thinking about the fact that a lot of the patients were not well nourished. We also found mouldy fungus and Aflatoxin in rice samples at a rate of nearly 5 times higher than in other areas," said Long.
Aflatoxin is a fungal toxin that commonly contaminates maize and other types of crops during production, harvest, storage or processing. Exposure to Aflatoxin is known to cause both chronic and acute liver damage.
The deputy minister said that more than 1,900 diseased samples have been collected for testing at all laboratories nationwide with the support of international experts from the World Health Organisation, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Japan.
Regarding public scepticism over the effectiveness of the disease treatment guideline, Long emphasised that it worked and has been updated three times by the country's leading experts since its introduction a few weeks ago.
Long also added that most of the patients died because of multi-viscera failure, liver poisoning and immune deficiency. In the most recent two fatal cases, one patient did not go to hospital for treatment and the other had already been diagnosed with cancer.
The ministry also confirmed that they will collaborate closely with WHO, CDC and other international organisations to find the cause in the near future.
