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The meningitis epidemic in Sudan is spreading and has reached the capital Khartoum, a WHO official in Geneva told IRIN today (Friday). Maria Santamaria, a medical officer in WHO’s communicable diseases programme, said 1,160 meningitis cases had been reported in Sudan since December 1998, with 175 deaths attributed to the disease. The epidemic started in Darfur and has touched Kordofan, White Nile, Sennar, River Nile as well as Khartoum, where 80 cases and 25 deaths have been reported so far, she said. Epidemic control efforts are being undertaken by UNICEF, WHO, IFRC, MSF and the government. Santamaria said the government had recently provided three million doses of meningitis vaccines while donor agencies had contributed another four million doses.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
