The Ministry of Health has categorically denied a report that an Iranian pilgrim in Madinah had contracted Rift Valley Fever (RVF), saying no cases whatsoever have occurred there. Such rumors, the Ministry stated, seek only to stir up anxiety among the pilgrims.

The most recent monthly report on the disease was issued on February 25, 2001 and said that of the total of 878 cases since the beginning of the outbreak last September, 753 have fully recovered. Fatalities number 123 in all, largely restricted to Jizan Province.

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