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Kabul: As many as 10 people have died in western Afghanistan from a rare liver disease believed to be caused by contaminated wheat, officials said.
At least 161 people were also hospitalised with Gulran disease in Herat province on the Iranian border, Peter Graaff, resident representative of the UN World Health Organisation, said on Saturday.
A toxic weed called charmak grows in the area and contains chemicals that can cause Gulran disease, WHO said. Graaff said the disease is not new but rare, and has killed as many as 10 people in recent weeks.
Abdul Hakim Tamana, the director of the Herat public health department, said Gulran disease "has spread all over" the affected district.
It was unclear exactly how the people became ill. The WHO was sending an expert from Geneva to Afghanistan within days to investigate whether wheat or other foods were contaminated, and whether people might be eating the weed accidentally or deliberately as a flavour enhancer, Graaff said.
WHO and Afghan government authorities believe local wheat was tainted with charmak and have taken measures to distribute fresh wheat supplies.
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