Killer skin disease claims 19 lives in Vietnam

An unidentified skin disease which has killed at least 19 people and sickened 171 others in central Vietnam has left doctors baffled as how to diagnose or treat the illness.The outbreak has affected Ba Dien Commune in Quang Ngai Province in Vietnam and has caused alarm amongst the local population.The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet received an official request by the Vietnamese authorities for help to investigate a deadly unidentified illness in Vietnam, a WHO spokesman said.Well, we have been hearing about these events and our office, regional office, that is based in Manila, is monitoring the reports, but so far we have not received the official request from the Ministry of Health of Vietnam to WHO to provide assistance in investigating these cases, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said.He added that the health agencys offices in Vietnam and the Philippines were ready to provide assistance to the Vietnamese government when a formal request had been received.