Huda Al-Sarari, a prominent Aden-based lawyer and human rights activist, told Almasdar Online on Wednesday that seven of the detainees at the UAE-run Bir Ahmed prison in the southern port city of Aden have confirmed infections with dengue fever. 

One detainee is in severe condition, she said, but prison officials have denied treatment for the infected prisoners outside the detention facility, which is located in Yemen's interim capital. 

Al-Sarari said she was concerned about the plight of the detainees due to the rapid spread of the mosquito-borne disease in the prison. 

Several prisoners started an open hunger strike to protest the lack of medical care for their colleagues infected with the disease. They are also protesting against the judiciary and the prosecution for detaining them without charges or referral to court.

Al-Sarari could not confirm if additional detainees, beyond the seven known dengue fever cases, were infected but said that the number is likely to increase without appropriate health care treatment and access to medical facilities outside the prison.

Yemen’s Association of Mothers of Abductees conducted a two-day hunger strike last week to demand the release of their sons in the prison.

Health authorities in neighborhing Lahj governorate documented 1,288 cases of dengue fever within its borders in November and December. Nearly 8,000 cases of dengue fever were recorded in nearby Taiz governorate from January to November last year.