Relapsing fever epidemic strikes Rubek

Research by a team of international health workers has confirmed an epidemic of malaria-like relapsing fever among semi-nomadic populations in the Lakes region of the south. Surveys at five centres in Rumbek county - coordinated by WHO and OLS - during March and April showed the attack rate during the last three months to range from 20 percent to a high of 67 percent. "In the village with the highest mortality rate, 29 out of 30 surveyed households had at least one family member dead", the survey report noted. Though the number of incidents of the fever is falling, the report noted the danger of large outbreaks due to "close contact of large numbers of people under circumstances of poor personal hygiene".