Six children in northern Kenya have died in the past month from an outbreak of Kala-azar disease, also called visceral leishmaniasis, a disease transmitted by the female sandfly that is fatal if left untreated, medical officials said.

Fifty-two children were admitted at Wajir district hospital, which is located 310 miles miles northeast of Nairobi. Of those, 39 tested positive for the disease. Regional medical officer Ahmeddin Omar in Wajir said all the cases are from the neighboring and remote district of Isiolo.

He told the Agence France Presse, "Kala-azar suppresses the immune system of children. When a child is infected, he can even die of a common cold." He said many more people may die because there are not health facilities near Isiolo.

Over 150 people in northern Ethiopia died of Kala-azar last year. According to the World Health Organization, around 500,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year, with over 90 percent of them living in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sudan and Brazil.

Omar said the government sent emergency drugs to the hospital in Wajir, but the amount of drugs are not enough to treat the increasing number of infections.

"If we get 10 more admissions, the drugs will not be enough," he said.