Sahana Khatun, 10, from Bangladesh is purportedly the first girl to be diagnosed with a rare disease called "tree man" syndrome.

Abul Bajandar, 27, who also hails from Bangladesh had similar disease. He is the fourth man in the world with this rare disease.

Sahana Khatun was diagnosed with the disease eight years ago after her father spotted some rashes on her face which have now developed into strange growths resembling tree branches.

On Sunday, January 29 2017, Khatun was hospitalised in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

"She has bark-like warts growing on her chin, nose and ear," Dr Samanta Lal Sen, chief plastic surgeon at the hospital stated, as reported by CNN.

The disease makes one prone to human papillomavirus (HPV).

"We don't know yet if this is (one) hundred percent a 'tree man' syndrome, but it definitely is a variety of the epidermodysplasia verruciformis, disease which causes very unusual skin disorder," Lal Sen stated as per a CNN report.

Khatun's mother passed away when she was six and her father is a labourer. Due to their poor financial conditions, the hospital is bearing all the medical expenses.

The 10-year-old is likely to go under the knife next week and the medics will remove the unwanted growths on her face.

"Her condition is not very serious and since she has a milder form of the disease, the team is confident that they can clear Sahana's face within one surgery," Lal Sen said, as reported by CNN.

tree man illness, health,  disease,
Abul Bajandar from Dhaka, Bangladesh is the fourth man in the world with the tree man illness, a rare skin disorder caused by a virus named human papillomaviruses. He got treated now.Wiki Commons/ Monirul Alam - Authors e-mail

Meanwhile, Abul Bajandar, lives in torment with these unwanted growths on his hands and legs. He underwent 19 procedures to rid of the tree-like branches from his hands. He will undergo more surgeries before he is discharged from the hospital, CNN reported.

The disease had disabled Bajandar from doing any activities including eating, bathing and brushing.

"I want to live like a normal person. I just want to be able to hold my daughter properly and hug her," Bajandar said last year prior to his operation, CNN quoted.