As Diseases Spread Across Afghanistan Border Controls Tightened, Says Iranian Official

Zahra Nehbandani, head of the Department of Combating Infectious Diseases at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, said that infectious diseases such as measles, rubella, and polio are still prevalent in Afghanistan.

She said that because of this reason, border controls are being intensified and the entry of sick people is being prevented.

In March, she had said that due to the legal and illegal traffic from Pakistan and Afghanistan, at least 20% of tuberculosis patients in Razavi Khorasan province had been foreign citizens.

On Thursday, Quds Online media reported that Zahra Nehbandani said that a large number of people from Afghanistan enter Iran during the Muharram days, and border controls have been intensified to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

She stressed that all necessary precautions should be taken to prevent the entry of people suffering from infectious diseases into Iran.

The head of prevention and treatment of infectious diseases of health department of Mashhad Medical Sciences University said that health care centers have been activated at Khorasan Razavi International Airport in addition to the Dougharon border.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had announced that in the last six months, 47 people in Afghanistan had died due to Crimean Congo fever.

WHO’s report stated that during this period, the number of people suffering from this disease in 32 provinces of Afghanistan has reached 494 people.