The Secretary of Health of the State of Ceará in northeastern Brazil announced receiving reports of three suspect cases of “black urine disease” last week. The cases are being investigated by state and municipal health officials and samples were collected for laboratory testing, according to a Rede News 360 report (computer translated).

Image/CIA
Image/CIA

The three suspect cases presented with symptoms like those seen in Bahia state last month- muscular pain mainly in the cervical region, lower and upper limbs, urine with a different color and alteration in the functions of the kidneys.

Black urine disease still does not have an etiology and has been seen in dozens of people in Bahia. If the cases are confirmed in Ceará, they will be the first outside of Bahia.

According to the Bahia State Department of Health, 44 patients had a negative result for bacterial infection.

There is also a suspicion that fish consumed in the region have caused intoxication. Therefore, samples consumed by people affected by the disease were sent to the Adolfo Lutz Institute in São Paulo and to a laboratory in the United States.

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