Meningitis kills 5 in Darfur
2005-04-04 21:30
Khartoum - Five people have died in the last 10 days in an outbreak of meningitis at a refugee camp in the strife-torn Sudanese province of Darfur, the World Health Organisation said on Monday.
The WHO said that in response it has launched a mass meningitis vaccination campaign at the Saraf Omra camp in the north of Darfur in collaboration with the ministry of health, as well as other non-governmental organisations.
About 75&nbps;000 people will be vaccinated, it said.
The statement said 100&nbps;000 doses of vaccine arrived in Saraf Omra last Thursday on a WFP helicopter to vaccinate people aged between 2 and 30 years old in Saraf Omra and surrounding areas.
Seventy-one people at the camp have already been infected with the illness, an infection of the meninges membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord like a sheath.
The vaccination campaign will take eight days and priority will be given to more populated areas.
According to the United Nations, about two million people have been displaced since a deadly civil war between rebels complaining of marginalisation and pro-government forces broke out in Darfur in February 2003.
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Human trafficking and the sale of human body parts are rampant in the country and authorities have failed to stop them.