Santo Domingo.- A gene mutation disease known as neurodegenerative dystonia first detected among children in the southern Dominican Republic has spread with more cases reported countrywide.

Noted neurologist Dr. Pedro Roa says he has carried out research with a team of foreign specialists and is organising a prevention and genetic counselling program.

He said the program would target people with a higher risk of genetic mutation leading to the development of the illness which inhibits people's movements.

Dr. Roa was interviewed as he took part in a meeting organised by the Juan Manuel Taveras Foundation, where wheelchairs were given to children who live with the condition.

He said that cases have been gradually reported in the Cibao region, Santo Domingo, San Cristobal and in the East.

He said it is important to have a test, still unavailable in the country, to detect the condition early in order to prevent future cases in children who are the offspring of two carriers of the genetic mutation.