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A mass vaccination campaign began on Monday in Muyinga province, northeastern Burundi, to curb the spread of meningitis that has already claimed the lives of 46 people in the country.
A statement issued on Tuesday by the World Health Organsation (WHO) said that of a total of 549 cases countrywide, 272 were in Muyinga Province. In communes where meningitis had been reported, but no epidemic declared, only affected areas of the villages were being vaccinated and patients treated.
The entire campaign would target a total of 440,000 people in Muyinga, Ruyigi, Cankuzo, Ngozi and Kirundo provinces, WHO said.
"This is a lethal disease if not treated and it is the responsibility of us all, not only in Burundi but in the region, to prevent what can develop into a major regional crisis affecting mainly children," said Sara Johansson, communications officer for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). She added that 70 percent of the deaths to date were children under 15 years old.
The first case of meningitis was identified on 6 July in the province of Kirundo, on the border with Rwanda, where the epidemic began in June. Of the five provinces where cases had been found, numbers were increasing in Gisuru, in Ruyigi province, WHO said.
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