Congo plague kills dozens

2005-02-18 21:26

Kinshasa, DRC - A rare form of plague has killed at least 61 people around a diamond mine in the remote wilds of northeast Congo, and authorities fear hundreds more who fled into the forests to escape the contagion are infected and dying, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Eric Bertherat, a doctor for the world health agency, said the outbreak has been building since December around a mine near Zobia, 300km north of Kisangani, the capital of the vast Oriental province.

Nearly all the 7 000 miners have abandoned the infected mine and sought refuge in the world's second-largest tropical rain forest, all but cut off from the outside world.

Security fears - mainly from bandits and militia leftover from DRC's five-year war - have also slowed the international response, Bertherat said.

Plague is spread mainly by fleas, and causes an infection in the lungs that slowly suffocates its victims. If caught in time, it can be treated with antibiotics.

Bertherat, speaking to reporters by telephone from Geneva, said plague is commonly found in this region of northern Congo, but this large outbreak is unusual.

- AP