Health Ministry denies meningitis death toll

An official in the Burundian Ministry of Health denied on Wednesday that 25 people had died of meningitis in the last two weeks in Gihanga commune, in the northwestern province of Bubanza. The ministry's director-general, Dr Jean Rirangira, said seven people have been confirmed dead. Bubanza health sector official Onesphore Niyongendako said 13 people had, so far, been admitted to Gihanga hospital, and that two had been discharged. Local administrative officials told IRIN that 25 people had died since the disease outbreak in July. They said the outbreak began at "Village 4" in Gihanga and was confirmed as meningitis on 1 August. The officials said patients did not initially seek medical attention and consulted traditional healers believing the problem to be one of witchcraft. Niyongendako told IRIN that he received reports on the disease outbreak 31 July and immediately sent samples to the capital, Bujumbura, for tests. Meningitis was confirmed, he said. Local medical officials appealed to patients to seek medical attention as soon as they observed symptoms of the disease. Rirangira said the Health Ministry had made available meningitis medication in sufficient quantity to cope with the outbreak, and that Gihanga residents were being vaccinated. He said health officials were monitoring the situation to ensure that the disease did not spread to other communes in the neighbouring Rural Bujumbura Province. The last meningitis epidemic in Burundi was reported in 2002 and it affected the northern provinces of Muyinga, Ngozi and Kirundo.