Egypt’s Health Ministry Denies Samir Ghanem Died of Black Fungus

On Saturday, Egypt's Ministry of Health addressed the raised speculations that the black fungus was the cause of the death of the iconic comedian-actor Samir Ghanem.

In a statement, the head of the central administration for preventive affairs at Egypt's Ministry of Health, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Fattah, didn't delve into the legendary actor's cause of death, indicating that this was a kind of violation of privacy, which should not be dwelt out of respect for the feelings of his family and loved ones as well as out of respect of the sanctity of death.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Samir Ghanem with his family[/caption]

Abdel Fattah confirmed that no case of black fungus infection has been recorded in Egypt for Coronavirus patients, stressing that circulating rumors regarding the spread of the black fungus strain in Egypt are baseless.

Rumors spread on social media that claimed that the main cause of Ghanem’s death was a fungal infection that recently spread in India. The brother of the late legend said that Ghanem had overcome the coronavirus but suffered acute kidney failure, and then contracted a fungal infection in his eyes.

Abdel Fattah stressed that this fungus is weak and is non-fatal and can be found in soil, fertilizers, and decomposing organic materials.

He noted that the black fungus can only infect humans through oxygen humidifiers in an unclean environment, adding that it does not cause any complications for those with a normal immune system, but only affects inpiduals or patients with weak immunity.

Abdel Fattah also confirmed that in the event of the emergence of any infectious disease or a new strain of the Coronavirus, infections and treatment plans will be detected and dealing with the epidemic.

He stressed that Egypt has a strong epidemiological surveillance system that tracks all epidemic diseases and their rates of spread, and also provides quick solutions to confront the epidemic.

[caption id="attachment_238390" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Samir Ghanem[/caption]

On May 20, Ghanem passed away at the age of 84, after a struggle with illness in the past days. He suffered from impaired kidney function and was transferred to the intensive care unit, where he received medical care for more than two weeks.