Health officials have started collecting insects in an attempt to get to the bottom of a mysterious skin disease that has afflicted more than 70 families in Kampong Speu and Kandal provinces. Menh Sovuthy, deputy director of the Kampong Speu Health Department, said local health officials have cooperated with specialists from the World Health Organisation in collecting specimens to get to the root of the problem. “We don’t know why these insects cause villagers to itch,” he said. He described the insects as white in colour and smaller than mosquitoes.