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Meningitis Kills 63 in West Nile

New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
February 8, 2007

By Fred Ouma
Kampala
 

AT least 63 people out of a cumulative total of 1,607 confirmed new cases have died of meningitis in West Nile since the epidemic broke out in mid-December.

A total of 1,534 cases have since been successfully treated.

In Sudan, the epidemic has killed 76 people in eight Sudanese states since the end of 2006, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Addressing journalists in Kampala yesterday, health minister Stephen Mallinga said the epidemic was, however, on the decline following mass vaccination campaigns against the disease.

He said a "significant decline" had been registered in Koboko and Arua districts and also in Kotido district in Karamoja, where the epidemic was first reported before it spread to the West Nile region.

However, Adjumani and Yumbe still experienced sporadic cases.

For Moyo, experts said it did not require vaccines as it had not recorded the threshold of five laboratory confirmed cases. Only two cases were confirmed, with no death.

"The Ministry of Health re-assures the public that adequate measures have been taken to contain the epidemic. We are meeting about everyday with our partners like Unicef, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Medicines San Frontiers and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

"So far we are containing the situation," said Dr. Mallinga, flanked by WHO country representative Dr. Merville George.

George said medical teams were on the ground to ensure as much vaccination coverage as possible.

He said more vaccines and drugs would be stocked in case of further outbreaks.

Copyright © 2007 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).

 

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