The father of one of two Italian
marines facing possible murder charges in India told ANSA Friday
his son is ill with dengue, a mosquito-borne tropical viral
disease that causes sudden fevers, muscle and joint pain, and
rashes.
"Yes, Salvatore caught that infection," Michele Girone
confirmed.
"He's a bit better now...we don't know how this thing will
evolve".
Italy's ministry of defence said Girone's condition "is not
particularly worrisome".
"The illness is following its normal course," the ministry
said in a statement, adding that two military doctors have been
dispatched to India where he is being held.
Wife Vania Ardito and their children Michele and Marina
joined him in the Indian capital two days ago.
Girone is being held in India, where along with fellow
marine Massimilano Latorre he faces possible trial on charges of
shooting to death two unarmed Indian fishermen during an
anti-piracy mission in 2012.
Latorre has been in Italy on an India-granted medical leave
since last summer.
The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on
August 24 ruled that both countries must suspend any judicial
proceedings against the pair pending an International Court of
Justice (ICJ) ruling on the case, which has caused diplomatic
tension between Italy and India.
Accordingly on Friday, India suspended four judicial
proceedings against the marines as per the Hamburg ruling and a
subsequent ruling by the Supreme Court in New Delhi.
Dengue fever can be caused by four different viruses, all
of them transmitted by mosquitoes, and infects 50 million people
every year.
Currently affects people in a total of 100 countries in
Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Indochina and
Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organization
(WHO).
The illness kills anywhere between 2.5 and 5% of infected
patients, reaching 20% mortality in people with hemorrhagic
dengue.
Avoiding mosquito bites in high-risk countries is of the
essence, because no vaccine has yet been discovered.
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