The Minister of Health , Nancy Perez , spoke today on the status of two diseases Disaster.DiseaseOutbreak.Unspecified currently affecting Venezuelans : chikungunya and dengue fever . Perez confirmed that so far in 2014 , there have been 398 cases of chikungunya Disaster.DiseaseOutbreak.Unspecified and 45 , 745 cases of dengue fever Disaster.DiseaseOutbreak.Unspecified in the country .

( NaturalNews ) The socialist " revolution " against democracy and free markets is proceeding in Venezuela , with the authoritarian government downplaying a mysterious disease outbreak Disaster.DiseaseOutbreak.Unspecified as print media in the country slowly dies off . As reported by WPLG ' sin Miami , there have been at least 10 deaths Life.Die.Unspecified from the as - yet - unidentified disease . The deaths Life.Die.Unspecified have occurred in several Venezuelan cities , including the capital of Caracas . As it spreads , the disease is creating panic among the population and has led some of the nation ' s physicians to sound Contact.Contact.Broadcast the alarm . However , as WPLG reported , the warnings are being downplayed by the socialist government : However , though the government remains in denial mode , doctors in Venezuela are taking the threat seriously ; they say there is genuine reason for concern , especially in a country where government policies have created nightmarish shortages of everything from basic food supplies to medicines . Plus , they say the disease is both dangerous and contagious . " We do not know what it is , " Duglas Leon Natera , president of the Venezuelan Medical Federation , said , according to WPLG . At first , those infected present with a fever and spots on the skin , which then produce large blisters followed by internal and external bleeding , says data provided by the College of Physicians in the state of Aragua , where the first cases were seen . From that point , the disease progresses very quickly ; patients begin suffering from respiratory failure , then kidney failure . And thus far , Venezuelan doctors have not been able to figure out what they are dealing with , let alone a treatment plan . And the government is hindering the process , largely by denying that there even is " a mysterious disease , " because that ' s what dictatorial , socialist leaders do : claim infallibility and blame others . One official called the doctors ' information nothing but a " media campaign against Venezuela . " And the governor of the state of Aragua , Tarek El - Aissami , along with Communications Minister Delcy Rodriguez , has labeled the warnings a " defamatory " strategy to " distress to the population . " Doctors are not completely in the dark ; some have speculated on what the disease might be . Theories include a new type of very aggressive , severe dengue fever and a different version of Chikungunya fever ; some have even suggested that it could be Ebola . Meanwhile , as its people die Life.Die.Unspecified , so , too , does Venezuela ' s ability to inform Contact.Contact.Broadcast its people ; the country ' s print media is slowing dying too , suffering from a lack of newsprint , as WPLG reported : According to a newly released report by the Institute for Press and Society of Venezuela , or IPYS , 34 newspapers and magazines in 11 states have reported in the past year chronic shortages and difficulties acquiring supplies and other materials to print , such as ink , film and plates . The situation has been made worse by the government ' s strict controls on acquiring foreign exchange , as well as interference in the internal processes of suppliers . An exchange rate control was enacted in the country 11 years ago ; it required companies to apply for permits in order to purchase foreign currency and import goods . And newspaper owners have been saying it has been months since they were granted permits to buy newsprint . " Due to the impossibility of securing newsprint and print materials , 10 print outlets have stopped circulating altogether and four others have halted circulation temporarily , " WPLG reported . " Others have reduced the number of pages per edition , sometimes by more than half , or stopped running during the weekend in order to survive . " In fact , the report said , the oldest Venezuelan daily , , nearly shuttered recently . " The newspaper industry is in a coma in Venezuela , " the paper ' s president , Carlos Eduardo Carmona , said . " The government is slowly killing the free press in Venezuela . " As for the doctors who tried to warn the public ? Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered them prosecuted for " a scheme of alarm , of psychological terrorism . "

An unknown virus Disaster.DiseaseOutbreak.Unspecified may be spreading within Venezuela ' s Aragua state , medical officials report ; however , the state ' s governor denies these allegations and accuses the official of lying .