Meningitis kills 13

A meningitis outbreak detected in northern Sierra Leone on 31 December has killed 13 people and prompted about 300 others to flee the affected area for fear of contracting the disease, UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) spokesperson Patrick Coker, told IRIN on Friday. He said the outbreak was confirmed by Medecins sans Frontieres as well as Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health, which has sent a team to try and contain the disease in Krubola town, Koinadugu District. "The outbreak was first reported by UNAMSIL Radio from reports of troops on the ground," Coker added. "The team from the Ministry has taken vaccines there." UNAMSIL Radio was quoted by PANA on Thursday as saying the outbreak had killed 10 and infected another 50 people. Sierra Leone lies within what WHO describes as sub-Saharan Africa's meningitis belt, which extends from Ethiopia to Senegal. The bacterial infection is spread by direct contact, including respiratory droplets from the nose and throat of infected persons. Epidemics, which usually occur in the dry season, spread rapidly unless mass vaccinations are quickly conducted.