Peru is in a state of health emergency due to an outbreak of Guillain-Barre syndrome

An unusually high number of cases of Guillain-Barré disease in Peru, a syndrome that causes severe neuropathy, paralysis and can lead to death, prompted authorities in the Latin American country to declare a national health emergency for three months.

“A national health emergency has been declared for 90 days due to the extraordinary increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome cases,” the Peruvian Ministry of Health said in a press release. The measure concerns 25 provinces in the country of 33 million people.

There has been a “significant increase in recent weeks, which obliges us to take measures at the state level to protect the health and life of the population,” Health Minister Cesar Vazquez told the press.

The declaration of a state of emergency allows, among other things, the purchase of immunoglobulins to treat patients for the next two years.

Four deaths were recorded and the number of cases exceeded 180 in the period from January to July, according to the latest tally issued by the Ministry of Health.

Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare autoimmune neurological condition — also called acute polyneuropathy — that is characterized by progressive muscle weakness over two to four weeks and can also affect the respiratory system.

Its most common symptoms are numbness and weakness such as paralysis of the extremities.