In four days, more than 500 people have been infected with an unknown infectious disease in the province's Kafshan region, Shinwari district, about 80 km north of the capital Kabul and the number is increasing, Hikmatullah Shamim, spokesman for the provincial governor posted on his social media account X on Tuesday.

Among the infected, the health conditions of 50 patients were reported critical, said Shamim, adding that general weakness, severe pain in hands and feet, severe diarrhoea, and high fever are the symptoms of this disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Shamim, a health team has been dispatched to the area and patients in serious health conditions have been shifted to the provincial hospital of Parwan and the infectious hospital in the capital Kabul for treatment.

The reason for the outbreak of the disease is not clear yet.